Sing Your Heart Out
by RachaelxLouisex
Summary: Welcome to Hartbridge Boarding School, where anything can happen. When the football captain/ school heartthrob and the shy, unknown beauty are forced to join together to keep their place at the school sparks will fly. Love, friendship, heartbeak and NILEY
1. Sing Your Heart Out The Trailer

Sing Your Heart Out.

**Starring:**

_Miley Stewart_

_Nate Grey_

_Mitchie Torres_

_Taylor Swift_

_Shane Grey_

_Lucas Brody_

_& many more!_

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**Hartbridge Boarding School – the best and most exclusive school in England. A hot-bed for the rich, talented and clever:**

**He was the captain of the school football team: talented, handsome and the crush of almost every girl in the school..**

"_Oh my gosh! Don't you think Nate Grey is SO fit!"_

"_Come on Nate, score another goal!"_

**Then there was Miley Stewart. The hidden jewel of the school. Beautiful with an amazing singing voice. But she likes to hide behind her intelligence and her boyish clothes with only her best friends Mitchie and Taylor to support her..**

_"Miley stop trying to hide yourself away from the world. You need to just let go and live."_

**He didn't take any notice of her..**

_"Dude, she's just a geek."_

**And she wasn't impressed with him..**

_"Nate Grey is just an arrogant and self-obsessed idiot who really needs to find something worthwhile in life other than kicking a ball and being a jerk."_

**But when they're paired together to write a song and perform it at the school talent show will they fall or fly?**

"_Ugh! Do I have to work with a geek? I mean look at her, she doesn't even try to look good"_

_"Mitchie, how am i gonna survive this? Please help me."_

**Did I forget to mention that if they fail the task they may just have to find another school?**

_"Hartbridge Boarding School has very high standards. Therefore it is very important for us to test you throughout your time here. People from all over the school can enter the talent show if they choose but for you it is essential. If you do not succeed I am afraid your future at this school will be uncertain."_

**For Miley and Nate the challenge will certainly not be easy. There will be love, tears, friendship and hate. Will they find a way to work together or will they just come out of it worse than before? It's time to _Sing Your Heart Out._**

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_**Please Read:**_

Okay so this is my first attempt at even writing a trailer for a story. Just got bored and this kinda came up in my head and I've been meaning to start a story on here soon. I'd really appreciate it if you review this for me and please tell me anything you'd like to see happen in the story especially the couples you like except from the obvious Niley :)

Oh and if you like the trailer please subscribe to me and favourite me or my story. Hope you do like it. Thanks, byeeee xx


	2. Chapter 1 It's time to go

Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 1

Miley's P.O.V

The heavy rain started splattering against the window making it impossible for anybody to sleep through it. As the window frame shook from the boisterous wind of England I sighed and sat up in bed. It was only 6am and as usual fate seemed to mess with my plans. So much for a lie-in before I had to say goodbye to my childhood friends and begin the 4-hour journey back to school.

The summer holidays had been so amazing. Endless days with my best friends Lily and Oliver hanging out, watching movies, shopping and just enjoying being with them. But now I guess its time for it all to end. I mean I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to go to such a great school like Hartbridge and I'm lucky that my Dad wants to send me there and I do have great friends there, it's just I wish Lily and Oliver went there too.

I hauled myself out of bed and softly padded across my bedroom to the bathroom – just because I'm awake doesn't mean I have to wake up my Dad. We're not like most families - my Mum died when I was young leaving just Dad, my older brother Jackson and me. Now that Jackson's started at university the house just feels weird and empty all the time. I'm looking forward to going back to a shared room that automatically comes with noise and friendliness.

I stepped in the shower and let the cool water relax me while I thought about the next few months at Hartbridge with my friends Demi and Taylor, hopefully filled with fun and not much stress. I washed my hair and stepped out of the shower rubbing myself dry and stepping into a pair of light skinny jeans and a navy and white striped vest.

I grabbed my laptop and flopped onto my sofa, quickly signing onto my msn. As I guessed Taylor and Mitxhie were already on, probably chattering excitedly about the new term at Hartbridge.

**Mitchie**: Hey Mileeeeez

**Taylor**: Hiiiiiiii!!

Miley: Hey guys. How much sugar have you been eating?

**Mitchie**: Haha you're so funny. Actually I've had none I'm just super excited to be going back to school so we can be back together again.

**Taylor**: Oh my gosh, we're going to be there in a matter of hours. Miley when are you setting off?

Miley: I guess in a few hours. Dad wants to be there for 2pm so he can meet his friend after he's made sure I'm all settled in.

**Taylor**: It's a shame you live further away than us. I'm going to be there at 12. But Shane promised he'd be there to hang out with me for a bit.

**Mitchie**: Ooooh Taylor and Shane sitting in a tree K I S S I N G

**Taylor**: Shut up!

Miley: Lol! First comes a date then comes a kiss then comes romance at Hartbridge. Okay, that was a bit rubbish but oh well you catch my drift. Anyway, I'm going to go and pack. My Dad's done his super long checklist for me to follow and he's actually drawn boxes for me to tick one by one!

**Mitchie: **Haha, good luck with that. Byeeee x

**Taylor: **Bye Smiley Miley x

As I glanced at the list my dad has spent hours labouring over I groaned with despair and made a mental note to do my packing earlier next time. I dragged my suitcase out from under the bed and piled all my shoes into the bottom as neatly as I possibly could and then carefully folded my clothes and placed them in the case. By 8am I was finished packing and was confident that I was all set to go. My travel bag was crammed full with sweets, magazines, my phone, Ipod and all my necessities.

"Miley! Come downstairs I've made pancakes. Your favourite!" Dad called.

At the sound of this I stumbled down the stairs as fast as I could and was sat at the breakfast table before my Dad could even say good morning.

"That's my girl. But I think you've forgotten you don't have to race Jackson down here Miles." Dad said with a light chuckle.

"Nope, I definitely remembered. I'm just hungry after all the packing and I'm excited to be going back to Hartbridge with Mitchie and Taylor."

"Miley! Slow down with the sugar. I can't bear 4 hours stuck in a car with a hyperactive teenage girl."

I laughed happily and began to eat my pancakes Nothing could possibly change my happy mood. In a few hours we'd be hitting the road with music blasting out of the radio with the prospect of seeing my BFF's. Could the day get any better?

Nate's P.O.V

"Nate! For god's sake you fat lump get out of your bed before I pull you out and trust me you don't want to make me mad right now."

I groaned heavily as I rolled over and tried my best attempt to block out the pest I commonly call my older brother Shane. Could the morning start any worse?

"GO AWAY! You're so annoying. Why do I even need to get up? Dad said he was taking us up to school this evening so Mum could meet up with her friends. Chill out." I almost screamed at him. Yeah okay maybe it's not exactly called for but it's the only way to get it into his thick skull to get the hell out.

"Ugh! Your so self-absorbed and such a jerk face. I bet you couldn't drag yourself away from another slut's lips to bother listening to Mum. She clearly told us last night that there was a change of plans because one of her friends is busy today. So get your lazy backside out of bed, we're leaving in an hour."

Shane left my room with a big smirk plastered on his face. I threw my pillow at him but all I heard was it colliding with the door. Damn, must have missed him.

"Stupid goody two shoes – always knows best and does the right things." I muttered to myself as I rushed a cold shower.

So maybe I'm over exaggerating. He's not exactly what you'd call a goody two shoes from what he's like with his friends but he's such a suck-up with Mum and Dad. My older brother Kevin's just as bad. Am I the only one of my brothers with a life? Except from my younger brother Frankie. But a ten year old doesn't count.

I ran downstairs and with perfect timing stole Shane's toast, grabbed a plate and started to sprint back up the stairs.

"Nate wait a second honey. Just to remind you we're leaving in an hour and we can't be late. Shane's promised his friend, Taylor, that he'll be there earlier on so she's not alone." Mum called up the stairs to me.

"Yeah that's fine" I began rolling my eyes at my mum's attempts to have a mother-son chat with me. "Wait! Did you just say we're going early because Shane wants to get there to see Taylor? Haha Shane's got a crush on Taylor Swift. Bro I thought you'd got better taste – she's a nerd like those friends of hers."

"Miley and Mitchie are not geeks. Just because you think that if girls aren't into cheerleading or dancing they're not suitable to hang out with. Well your wrong. All three of them are beautiful and one day you'll realise that too late." Shane burst going red with anger.

"Chill dude." I muttered and crept upstairs. I'd never seen Shane so angry. Although I honestly do not see why a football player/ potential ladies man like him would waste his time with girls like them. Whatever, I'm not going to waste another second of my life thinking about losers.

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**Okay so here's another chapter but for me it's totally crap but whatever i just felt bad because i've had a few reviews and it's my half term and i've hardly spent any time on it. So yeah i attempted the Nate's P.O.V tonight but i doubt it's any good because i've been on a big day out and i'm pretty tired. And i know the chapter might seem a bit pointless but i'm just trying to show the differences between Nate and Miley and also a few of their characteristics.**

**Something big i want you to answer in your reviews is should i keep writing it like this with their different points of views which would mostly be Miley as she's going to be the one with the most emotions but occasionally Nate. Or do you want it wrote as if i'm just an on-looker describing what is going on? I'm going to leave it up to you guys because you have to read it.**

**Please please please review because i'm so gonna fail at this if i don't get people's opinions and advice. If you think any part of this was rubbish tell me :)**

**I'd like as many reviews as possible before i update so i can use what you say to help me. I'll try to get a new chapter out asap but tomorrow i've got plans with my best friend, saturday i have work and then a halloween party but sunday is a possibility depending on the reviews i get.**

**Thanks everyone x****  
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	3. Chapter 2 Home Sweet Hartbridge

_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 2_

_Miley's P.O.V_

_"Some boys take a beautiful girl, and hide her away from the rest of the world. I wanna be the one to walk in the sun. Oh, girls, They wanna have fu-un." I sung along to the radio with my Dad._

_I sighed with contentment, the cold breeze rushing in through my window. For a minute there with the radio on the loudest volume, singing in harmony with my Dad, I could pretend that life was perfect. I could act as if I had no worries in life, that I was truly happy at Hartbridge and that I wasn't classed as the school outcast._

_But then I always take a heavy crash back down to reality. I do have worries in life – am I going to find my spot in the world and be able to do what I really long to do? And I don't have fun at Hartbridge. I'm too worried about what people might think if I show them my talents that I don't even bother and I'm just seen as the school swot. Plus I'm DEFINITELY classed as a nobody. Maybe if I could build up my confidence to show people the real me. But right now – that's not even a possibility. _

_"So Miles… do you know anything about your next term here? What is the school getting you to do?" my Dad questioned. _

_"Don't know. They tell us tonight at our welcome back assembly." I muttered._

_"Come on chick. I know you wouldn't have come here not knowing everything about the term. Is it something that you don't like?" _

_"Dad honestly, I did go on the website and try and find any information but there wasn't any. If it's something I won't enjoy I'll just have to grin and bare it." I explained, squeezing my hands together and hoping that he wouldn't press me for anymore details._

_"I know darling. I know you can cope with anything. You're a strong girl and I'm so proud of you. Oh hurray we're finally here. It feels such a long drive for some reason. We're just getting through the gates now Miley come on look out the window – Taylor and Mitchie are hanging out and chilling – doing what you young people do."_

_"Daaaad. Don't try and be cool in front of my friends. It's embarrassing. As soon as we step out of this car you're a serious and sensible Dad. Pinkie promise!" I groaned. _

_As we drove up the drive to the school and pulled up next to the two girls waving like crazy I looked around at the school. There's no doubt it's beautiful – a typical English manor with beautifully kept land and every facility you could dream of. A swimming pool, games rooms, a library, sports courts. You name it and Hartbridge has got it. _

_"Miley! I'm so glad you're here. Lover girl over there is obviously otherwise engaged. I've missed you!" Mitchie cried as she pulled me into a hug. This is why I love Mitchie. She's a great friend and so supportive. As for her appearance, she's just as beautiful on the outside as the inside. A girl of medium height with gorgeous curves accompanied by long glossy brown hair and a friendly face. Dressed simply in a pair of tight dark jeans, a slogan t-shirt and her favourite black leather jacket she looks stunning as always and ready to impress._

_I looked at Taylor and laughed. A tall and slim girl with golden blonde hair in tight curls. Her bright smile showed her happiness and she took great pleasure in showing off her summer tan in a short floral print skirt and a light pink vest top. Stood next to her was Shane Grey, one of the boys who has stood by me no matter what. He's incredibly sweet and it's so obvious that he's in love with her. Secretly, Mitchie and me have given them until Christmas to get together. Although I do feel sorry for Mitchie having to put up with the constant flirting._

_"Oh hey Smiley I didn't see you there. Has Mitchie told you the big news? The assignment for our year group this term is to create a song in groups and perform it at the school talent show. I hope they don't pick our groups – us three would so rock this school together!" Taylor hurriedly spoke showing her excitement._

_Me, I'm not sure it's a good idea. It probably seems crazy to my friends who don't want to be singers that they look forward to performing more than I do. They don't seem to understand that if I show everybody what I'm made off I have to step out of the shadow I've been living in for the first year of school and I'd have to face everybody as a whole new Miley._

_"Hey Miley I better get off in a minute if I want to get to my meeting on time. Actually I don't have a choice, I have to be there on time." Dad chuckled to himself._

_"One minute guys I'm just going to say bye to Dad and then you can take me to our room and we can get our timetables." I said and began to walk over to the car._

_The next thing I knew I was on my bum in the middle of the drive with blood trickling on my hands from where they had scraped on the stones. _

_"Oh Miles, looks like you've brought your clumsy gene back with you." Mitchie called from the grass, giggling slightly but a little frown forming on her face. My Dad was at my side in an instant fussing like a panicky mother would._

_"Dad I'm fine honestly. Mitchie will sort me out once we've got to the dormitory. She's got her own First Aid, I'm sure you haven't forgot that she's got an obsession with being prepared." I laughed, getting up and brushing myself down._

_"If your sure Miles. Anyway I just wanted to say good luck with everything and if you ever need me I'm only a phone call away and I can be down here like a flash if you need me by your side. I heard Taylor tell you about your assignment this term. Don't sacrifice your happiness and your dreams because of fear darling. This is your chance to shine. You've got raw talent love, something not many people are blessed with. Please Miley, just listen to your heart for once and believe in yourself as much as your friends and me do. Can you promise me you'll try? I love you Miley and I can't wait until you, Jackson and me are together again for Christmas. I'll see you again soon." Dad softly said as he hugged me tightly and kissed me on the forehead. _

_"I promise I'll try for you. I love you too Dad." I whispered with tears forming in my eyes at the prospect of facing this challenge without him by my side._

_I know what he's thinking as he slowly draws away from me and heads towards the car. He's wishing that I'd have the confidence to break out of my shell. He knows me better than I do. He knows everything about my personality and he knows the reason why I'm trying to hide myself from the world. He knows that as soon as I walk into school I'll put up my barrier that can only be broken down by the ones I love. Hence my lack of friends. And lastly he knows that even though I try to hide the fact that all of this bothers me deep down I want to change – I just don't know how. _

_I waved until he disappeared out of the gates and then I slowly headed back towards Mitchie and Taylor, waiting for me. My hands were starting to feel the sting of the cuts and I let a single tear of frustration slowly fall down my cheek._

_"Aww Miles, cheer up. I've got a great feeling about this term. Me, you and Taylor together are going to have some serious fun!" Mitchie said as she took my arm and gently led me through the crowds of people outside the school saying their goodbyes. _

_Joe and Taylor followed behind squeezing my shoulders comfortingly as a way of silently telling me that everyone's here for me. But even though I've had a bad start I'm determined that something's going to change this year. I'm going to change this year. I'm going to make my Dad proud and do what he wants – I'm going to learn to shine. These were the thoughts floating around in my head as I walked up to my room for the next term and I plastered a bright smile on my face determined to change._

_"Oh my god, look at the state of her. Only been here one minute and she's already messed up. Can't say I'm surprised though."_

_"What a reject!"_

_"Maybe it wasn't an accident – she could have done it on purpose. You know, self-harming and all that. She looks like she might do."_

_My head was screaming at me to turn around and glare at the hurtful people with no hearts and tell them exactly what I thought of them for even thinking these things never mind saying them in my earshot. But I fought the temptation and carried on walking, rolling my eyes at Mitchie as I went._

_Maybe things have started badly, but it can't get any worse, can it?_

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**I'm so so sorry that this is really later than i said it was going to be. I'm under a load of pressure at school with Mock Exams coming up and over the weekend i've had 3 pieces of History coursework to complete as well as going to a Bonfire party and sleepover. I'm really sorry especially because i got a load of people alerting my story and favouriting it and then i didn't post the next chapter when i said i would.**

**Please give me your constructive criticism so in your review write:**

**1. What did you like best about this chapter?**

**2. What did you like worst about this chapter?**

**3. Would you like to see signs of romance between Nick and Miley quite soon in the story or for me to focus on their dislike for eachother and then them slowly realise they like eachother?**

**And please review because without them i'm not going to continue the story. I've got 9 people alerting this story so i'm gonna expect more reviews than before. I'm going to say i'd like at least 4 reviews for each chapter. If i get more than that it's just going to make me happier and more confident and i'll be posting quicker so you know what to do :)**

**Thank youu x**


	4. Chapter 3 Such Pretty Eyes

**_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 3_**

**_Nate's P.O.V:_**

_As I lay down on the bed in my room for the next few months I grabbed my football and repeatedly threw it up and caught it. Truthfully, I'm feeling kind of lonely. I always do on the first day of school but I'm not going to tell anybody that. In fact if I'm going to be brutally honest with myself I would like to have somebody I could confide in and be the real Nate with. But it's my fault. I've pushed away my brothers and I made the wrong kinds of friends last term. Now I'm stuck with empty-headed bimbos known as the cheerleaders and boys obsessed with kicking a ball around and getting the hottest girls. The only dude I can trust is Lucas, my best friend. But even he doesn't know half of what I'm feeling and the truth is I don't think he'd understand._

_As I thought back to the start of the day I groaned in anger. Not at Shane, but at me. How could I be so stupid as to block out one of the few people that genuinely cares about me and wants to help me? All Summer I'd been arrogant and hard-hearted, completely isolating myself from my family and instead choosing to party with my old friends and random girls and becoming the nightmare son from hell. But surely that's not a crime – I was only out having fun. That's what every 15-year-old male does!_

_But I was in the wrong this morning. I shouldn't have poked fun at Shane because of a crush on a girl especially as he's really serious about her. And I definitely shouldn't have then taken it out on his two other friends, that Miley and Mitchie. Especially because they aren't even that bad, I only say it because the bitchy girls that I hang out with say it – probably just jealous that they have to try to look stunning while Shane's friends naturally look good. Oh God what am I saying?!_

_They caused this trouble, without them Shane and me wouldn't be disagreeing so much. The car ride had been amazingly awkward and my Mum kept looking anxiously between Shane with his unusually unsmiling face and me mirroring his expression. The tension in the car was almost unbearable – even our little brother Frankie could sense it and didn't speak a word throughout the journey and choosing to play on his games console all the time, muttering one word answers to Mum. When we stopped for lunch (a picnic on the roadside) we just glared at each other and made cutting remarks across the blanket and then when we arrived at Hartbridge none of my friends were here and we weren't allowed up to our dormitories. I got stuck with Shane and his two friends Taylor and Mitchie. They weren't too bad but after awhile Miley arrived and I felt like such an outsider sitting on the bench that I went for a walk and eventually I could find my room. I'm betting Shane noticed my quick disappearance and would instantly guess why – another thing to add to the Nick Gray black book._

_I threw the football at the wall in frustration and ran my hand through my thick curly hair groaning in frustration._

_"Whoa! Dude what's up? Let it you man you can't keep all that anger inside, especially not for football. You'll injure someone." Lucas exclaimed with wide eyes, starting to slowly approach me._

_"Hey man, it's alright I just got into a little argument with Shane earlier and was just letting off steam. I'll be okay in a while."_

_I smiled slight to reassure him and got up to hug him. Yeah, maybe if somebody were watching they'd see it as girlie. But I don't care. Lucas and me are like twin brothers – we like the same things, think the same things and are on exactly the same wavelength. We truly understand each other. He knows what goes on in my head – he just chooses not to ask me about it, he knows I'm not ready to talk about it._

_"Hey how about we go check out all the sports facilities? Coach told me that we were getting new gym equipment so that we can work on our strength. And I'm sure the football pitch is going to look amazing!" I said my enthusiasm slowly building up._

_"Yeah good idea! Maybe we could even try it out. I'll challenge you!"_

_"Lucas don't be silly, you know I can beat you at ANYTHING." I boasted running out of the room with Lucas quickly following me shouting protests all the way._

_As we got to the exit of our dormitory block the dinner bell rang loudly and we both groaned and quickly put our hands to our ears. Just our luck to be right by the bell when it went!_

_I turned around to Lucas with a look of pure disappointment on my face. "That bell sure does know how to pick its moments, huh? We'll go check everything out later, maybe with a few more of the lads. I'm sure they'll be interested."_

_"Yeah good idea but come on, you don't want to be late on your first day back. Imagine what Mr Moorstone would say. He'd have a field day with you, immediately thinking up a ten minute lecture for us!"_

_I laughed at the thought of it but then quickly picked up my pace to catch up with some other people. Safe in a big group and all that._

_"Oooft" I heard a girl's voice as she slammed straight into me and fell down towards the hard gravel. Instinctively my arms swooped down and snaked around her waist to stop her from landings on the floor._

_"Oh my gosh thank you so much! I really couldn't deal with any more cuts today. I'm so sorry for banging into you."_

_I looked down to see what girl that was now probably going to be stalking me for the next term and looked straight into the eyes of Miley Stewart._

_"Oh, um w-well watch where you're going next time. Alright?" I stuttered looking with alarm at Lucas who in return looked back at me in surprise._

_Why was I the tongue-tied one? Shouldn't she be the one who could barely talk around the hot star football player?_

_She looked at me weirdly making her even cuter and replied "Okkkk, whatever. Bye!" while raising her eyebrow slowly and walking away shouting to her friends to wait up._

_I walked into the dining hall in a daze ignoring Lucas' constant questions over what happened back there and sat in my old seat not even noticing the drastic change._

_Lucas pulled me out of my chair and to the seating section for Hoarcross Hall, my living hall. As soon as we sat down Lucas attacked me whispering "What the hell Nate?! That chicks made you crazy and you only saw her for about a few seconds!"_

_"Lucas it was nothing I was just shocked that she even spoke really. I mean come on she's like one of those nerds isn't she? All last year I just saw her swotting up for her lessons or with her nose in a book. I don't even bother about fit girls, never mind girls like her." I returned as convincingly as I could._

_He seemed to buy it as he laughed loudly and said, "That's the Nate we know and love!"_

_I heard a low gasp behind me and turned to see the one and only Miley Stewart with Mitchie Torres and Taylor Swift and Shane glaring darkly at me._

_"Oops" Lucas muttered._

_"Oops? Is that all you can say Lucas man? Nate you don't even know Miley and you don't even deserve to know her. So don't even bother speaking to her at all and just bother with those cheap plastic Barbie's your so fond of." Come on Miles let's go find our seats."_

_I looked up at Miley and felt an enormous wave of guilt when I saw that the bright excited spark in her eyes from outside the dining hall had been replaced with hurt and confusion. All because of me. I shook it off and turned back to Lucas rolling my eyes at him but secretly watching Mitchie pull Miley away._

_For some unknown and daunting reason she seems to capture me and her beautiful face has the capability to mesmerise me. No other girl has ever had the honour of getting me in a fluster and it worries me that she can do this to me so quickly. I made a resolution to keep my distance from this Miley girl and focus on football and partying – just like last term._

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**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_As Mitchie, Taylor and me walked away from the ice cream parlour and headed towards the dining hall I smiled brightly, thinking about the term ahead. Surprisingly everything had got a whole lot better since first arriving at Hartbridge. After walking around the school with Joe and a few of his friends I'd cheered up a lot and after an ice cream sundae from the ice cream parlour on the school grounds everything was going perfectly._

_Just as we were nearly at the dining hall I looked at my elbow to see the plaster from earlier starting to fall off._

_"Oh what perfect timing! You guys I'm just going to run up to our room and get fresh plasters. Tell the teacher I'll be there in a second it was an emergency. Okay?"_

_"Don't be silly Miles, we'll wait her for you so we can go in together. Shane will save us seats, especially if Taylor asks." Mitchie said winking at Taylor and laughing at the blush in response._

_I ran up to the room and quickly replaced the plasters and rushed back to Mitchie and Taylor in record time. Things were going great until I decided to stop where I was going and run straight into someone. I closed my eyes waiting for the cold impact of the floor but it never came. As I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and pick me up._

_I opened my eyes to see Nate Gray. I gulped quietly and pulled myself together, determined not to go all shy or nervous. I wouldn't be scared and I couldn't afford to stutter – he'd think I was crushing on him! Although he does have an incredibly cute face. Wait, Miley stop thinking about him!_

_"Oh my gosh thank you so much! I really couldn't deal with any more cuts today. I'm so sorry for banging into you." I spoke confidently and clearly, smiling slightly at my success._

_"Oh, um w-well watch where you're going next time. Alright?" he stammered in reply._

_I raised my eyebrows in surprise and must have had a very weird look on my face. Nate Gray stuttering over me? Well that was new._

_I spotted Mitchie and Taylor looking at us anxiously and I decided to go over to them. Either they were worried about me and what was being said over here or they were worried over being late to the dining hall. After all, Mr Moorstone's definitely going to have a fit._

_"Okkkk, whatever. Bye!" I shouted quickly behind me and ran over to them, praying that I wasn't blushing or looking flustered._

_"Hey sorry about that, I didn't look where I was going again and bumped into Gray. Had to be him didn't it?" I gave a slight giggle and looked at them._

_"Miles you don't like him do you? I could see you blush when you looked at him from over here." Taylor asked._

_"Oh god I hope he didn't see, I so don't want people to think that." I groaned combing my hair with my hands trying to make it less messy._

_"No, he didn't seem to pick up on it. He looked just as embarrassed." Mitchie laughed._

_"Probably because he didn't want to be seen talking to a 'nerd'. Might ruin his reputation." I joined in the laughter and walked into the hall with them walking up to Shane who was waiting for us at the entrance._

_"You guys aren't even late! But I got Jake to save you all some seats. We're as far away from the teachers as possible." Shane said with an over exaggerated phew gesture._

_"Shane Gray! Miley Stewart! Mitchie Torres! Taylor Swift! Get to your seats!" we heard Mr Moorstone's booming voice, smirked at each other slightly and started to walk to our seats._

_As we were walking past Nate and his best friend Lucas, I heard them talking about me. I held Shane back and Mitchie stayed with us. Taylor looked at us questioningly and we motioned for her to go to our seats. I held my fingers to my lips to tell Mitchie and Shane to stay quiet a second._

_"Lucas it was nothing I was just shocked that she even spoke really. I mean come on she's like one of those nerds isn't she? All last year I just saw her swotting up for her lessons or with her nose in a book. I don't even bother about fit girls, never mind girls like her." I heard him whisper, noticing the panic in his voice._

_However Lucas seemed to buy is as he laughed and replied, "That's the Nate we know and love!"_

_You couldn't escape the heavy relief on Nate's face that Lucas believed him and I couldn't help the gasp that escaped from my mouth. Mitchie looked at me with concern and then back at Nate with hate clear on her face._

_"Oops" Lucas muttered._

_"Oops? Is that all you can say Lucas man? Nate you don't even know Miley and you don't even deserve to know her. So don't even bother speaking to her at all and just bother with those cheap plastic Barbie's your so fond of." Come on Miles let's go find our seats." I heard Shane shout angrily and I let them lead me away to Taylor and Jake._

_As I walked away I looked back at Nate to see him look, surprisingly, guilty. I tore my eyes away from him and tried to fight back the tears, hoping that he wouldn't see my eyes watering. I sat down and immersed myself in the conversation about New Moon, the awaited sequel of Twilight that had just been released in cinemas, desperate to forget about Nate Grey and his chocolate brown eyes._

_I sighed and at that very moment vowed to myself that I would stay away from Nate Grey and focus on myself this term. I want to make my Dad proud and I want to have fun with Mitchie and Taylor. Most importantly, I want to show Hartbridge exactly what Miley Stewart can do._

**_AN: Okay well i really liked writing this chapter especially with a bit of Niley in it. Sorry if it's not enough for you but honestly for the story to work it's going to have to be like this :) I promise you i'm going to try and get romance in where appropriate and your going to see more Jaylor as well :D I need someone for Mitchie because i don't want her to be the only one without a little love in her life so let me know who you want her to be with!_**

**_I also want to hear some stuff that you might want to happen in the plot. Ultimately i do know where i'm going with this but i am open for little suggestions over things you might want me to include for you to enjoy the story more._**

**_The last thing i'm going to say is a bit less positive. So i got 3 reviews which were good ones so a little thank you/ shout-out to niley16, Nikky and Niley23 Alex i really appreciated your reviews. I've got like 14 people alerting me and 8 favourites and each chapter is getting more than 100 hits. However it's really quite annoying that i could be getting more reviews. Remember it will make me update quicker and more reviews is also gonna make me want to give you great chapters. So if i don't see reviews then dont be suprised to see my next post saying that there's gonna be no more story. I love writing this for you but i'm not gonna waste my time on something that's not wanted. But now my rants over and i don't wanna have to do it again so pleaase REVIEW! x_**


	5. Chapter 4 Time For Some Fun Or Not

**_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 4_**

**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_It's now two days after my arrival at Hartbridge and I'm finding it incredibly hard to push Nate Gray and his eyes to the back of my mind – never mind getting rid of the thought entirely. Talk about mission impossible if there ever was one._

_It's the last day of our 'moving in' time, as the school likes to call it. Basically, we get two days off timetable doing whatever we want to do whether it's spending time with your friends on campus, go out to somewhere nearby or maybe even just chill out in your room. Mitchie was the one who suggested trying to do everything on campus in the duration of two days. We've ate ice-cream, we've been swimming, we've used the gym equipment (earning myself evil glares from you know who), we've visited our favourite cook – Chef Paolo at the pizza parlour and now we're sunbathing in the sun while sipping on our fruit cocktails courtesy of Shane._

_"Hey Shane, what's rattled Nate's cage?" Mitchie wondered while staring thoughtfully at Nate and his friends kicking a football around in the rare English sun._

_"I wish I could say I knew. But we've barely spoken since getting here. All he does is make horrible comments about you guys and then we get in an argument. He seems to have got worse after his run in with poor Miles here. Lucas told me earlier that he's been like this constantly unless he's playing football." Shane sighed._

_I glanced over at Nate to see for myself. And as clear as dawn I could see the deep scowl on his usually handsome face, instantly darkening his features while he sat to the side of the football pitch taking a short break to cool down._

_As if he could read my mind his head snapped up and I saw him glower even more – though I couldn't be sure if it was aimed for Shane or me. But if looks could kill I'm sure we'd be arranging a funeral for one of us by now. I bit my lip nervously and tore my eyes away from him._

_"Whoa guys did you just say that? I don't know if it's just me being stupid but I think we should steer clear of Nate. He looks like he's on the war path and he definitely doesn't class us as his side." Taylor frowned slightly._

_"Just ignore him Tay, if he says anything just ignore him, he's just being really touchy at the moment." Shane said comfortingly while pulling her into a hug. I smiled slightly at the sight of them and winked at Mitchie knowingly._

_"Hey Miles I forgot my mum sent you some sort of good luck charm, I can't believe I didn't remember – she does it every year! Anyways I guess it's not long until dinner so we may as well go up and start getting ready. I don't know about you but the teachers will pounce on me immediately if I turn up in this outfit." Mitchie laughed pointing down at her denim shorts and tight vest top._

_"Guys we don't have to go to dinner tonight on campus, it's our last day off timetable – you know we're all allowed to go out and eat at a restaurant." Taylor said looking at us weirdly._

_Mitchie and me glanced at each other secretly asking what to tell them now. Our plan to give Shane and Taylor alone time obviously wasn't going to plan._

_"Umm… well… you see." We said simultaneously while trying to think of an excuse._

_"Well then we need even longer to get ready if we're going out? Where do you guys fancy?" I said, shooting Mitchie a relieved glance. Thank goodness for my quick brain._

_"Ooh please pretty please can we go to the new Indian restaurant that opened in the summer holidays?" Taylor begged, immediately putting on her puppy dog eyes that can never be refused._

_"Yeah! Great idea. Let's go I'll walk you guys back to your room. You're so lucky that you three get to share. How do you manage to twist the rules? Although then again I don't think I could cope living with more than one of my friends – Jake's more than enough." Shane joked earning giggles from us girls. Shane may act as if Jake's a pain but he doesn't fool us – they're almost as bad as the three of us!_

_"Remember to dress nicely! This should be a fun night – not just any old meal. We've gotta celebrate an exciting term ahead. Isn't that right Smiley?" Mitchie cried excitedly._

_"Yup it sure is! See you later Shane!" I giggled with excitement as we walked into our room and shut the door on Shane muttering quietly about having to make an effort._

_"You love it really Shaney." Taylor shouted down the corridor after him and pulled a funny face before closing the door._

_"Now girls, no time for messing around. We have exactly 2 hours to shower, choose an outfit, do our hair, make-up and choose the perfect accessories." Mitchie listed taking on the mode I'm most scared of – Fashion Queen._

_Taylor and me nodded soberly and fought back the urge to laugh. It's safe to say you should not mess with Mitchie in a situation like this and it is definitely much easier to make no complaints or protests. I tried it once and let's just say it wasn't my best idea._

_"Go! Go! Go!" Mitchie shouted._

_The next two hours were filled with laughter and clothes as we rushed to be ready for Shane to knock for us. Mitchie was already lying on her bed in a short startling red dress matched with a small black cardigan and shiny black heels– her favourite colours. She'd straightened her hair and applied smoky eye make-up._

_"Mitch you look absolutely stunning." I said smiling brightly at her._

_"Aw thanks Miley, not that I've got anyone to impress though. Oh well, one day my prince will come!" she laughed good-humouredly._

_"I'm finished!" Taylor said coming out of the bathroom and giving us a twirl. She'd chosen a beautiful pale pink strapless dress down to her knees paired with her favourite pendant, a present off Shane, and gold wedges. She'd taken extra care over her hair and curled it beautifully with just a slick of lipgloss and some mascara. She also looked amazing._

_"Wow Taylor, tonight could so be the night that Shane admits his feelings." Mitchie grinned wickedly, enjoying the blush creeping into Taylor's cheeks._

_"Guys your so embarrassing. We're just friends." Taylor insisted gently._

_"Yeah whatever you say. Now come on let's go, we may as well wait outside for Shane- he's bound to be late." I laughed and grabbed Taylor's hand ready to go._

_"No! Miley you've got to give us a twirl too." Mitchie demanded, folding her arms with a look on her face that clearly stated that she wasn't taking no for an answer._

_I sighed and spun around quickly, not wanting their attention on me. Sure, the dress is nice but there's no way I can possibly look as nice as Taylor and Mitchie._

_"Miles seriously be confident! You look beautiful. Every guy in the restaurant will wish you were their date!" Mitchie promised me with Taylor nodding vigorously in agreement._

_I decided to say nothing more, I wouldn't win. I smoothed down my dress – a short jade green dress with a tie around the middle and slipped on my black leather jacket and black stilettos, following Mitchie out of the door with Taylor behind me._

_Shane was waiting with Jake outside our building and I took Shane's arm and started to walk down to drive. Shane was wearing black skinny, jeans, a light blue shirt, a dark blue tie and his favourite black leather jacket. I can honestly say, as a friend, that he would always stand out in a crowd and always be noticed – especially by girls. Jake was dressed a bit more casually with a white long sleeved shirt, dark jeans and a grey wool waistcoat._

_"Umm girls wait up. A few other guys are going to come with us if that's okay? It's just the football team wanted to go out as a group. They don't mind a few girls coming with us though." Shane explained rubbing his neck nervously. I could see him glancing between all three of us anxiously. Mitchie looked absolutely furious, Taylor looked kind of disappointed and well I guess if I look how I feel I just look awkward._

_Mitchie's eyes narrowed. "By the football team I take it you mean Nate, Lucas and the rest of them?"_

_Shane looked desperately at Jake for support but Jake looked just as scared as he did._

_"Well yeah I guess. Nate wanted us all to have a meal together because obviously he wants us to win a lot of the competitions this year so he wants us to gel more as a team. We told him that we were going with you guys as well though. He just shrugged and said maybe some cheerleaders would meet us later on then after their group meal." Shane explained._

_Mitchie rolled her eyes and I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down._

_"Hey its alright we can just ignore the idiots. Jake and Shane will still talk to us – we'll still have our fun night out. I won't let anything ruin our fun." I assured her._

_She looked surprised and whispered back "Are you sure you're okay with sitting at the same table as Nate? I'm not thick Miles, I know something's going on that you want to let out."_

_I felt a wave of guilt spread through me. It was true, I had been holding back on Mitchie and Taylor. I didn't want them feeling they had to worry about me and keep an eye on me so early on in the year. However I knew the time had come to explain myself so I nodded slightly and whispered back "Later."_

_Mitchie turned back to Shane, nodded her head slightly and said, "Fine we'll be nice."_

_"Yay! Thank you so much you guys. I so wanted to have fun with you alone but I couldn't say no to Nate, after all it is a good reason." Shane beamed._

_Taylor, Mitchie and me all rolled our eyes at each other, laughing loudly at the over excited boy standing in front of us, almost bouncing up and down with happiness._

_I was too absorbed in my laughing fit with Mitchie and Taylor to notice anything but when Shane gave an awkward cough and said "Right, shall we go then?" I turned around swiftly to see a very amused Nate Grey looking amazing in a white polo shirt and light jeans. In my opinion it is completely unfair that after resolving to stay away from him and the trouble surrounding him all that seems to be happening is I'm running into him._

_"Yeah I think going to the restaurant could be a good idea. If you ladies are finished of course." Nate smirked followed by a few laughs from his loyal followers._

_I could feel the flush rising into my cheeks and I knew Taylor felt the same when she smiled nervously and caught up with Shane and slipped her arm through his for unspoken support and sympathy._

_"Whatever Grey." Mitchie snapped and stormed off to Jake to cool down. I smiled slightly at her annoyance and waited for all the footballers to start walking before I followed on behind. Mitchie might ask me why on earth I didn't catch up with her but to be quite honest I quite like being alone sometimes to think about things._

_"So Stewart, looks like you're the odd one out." An unfamiliar voice brought me out of my thoughts abruptly._

_I looked to my side to see who the intruder was to see exactly what I was dreading. Nate Grey looking straight at me waiting expectantly for an answer._

_Right Miley, you've done it once you can do it again I said to myself as I panicked over what to answer with._

_"Your only the odd one out if you mind." I said casually and walked faster to catch up with Mitchie or Taylor. Luckily he didn't try and keep up. But I couldn't stop myself from running over the short conversation again and again in my head hoping that I didn't sound stupid. But why am I bothered so much about one guy? And he's not a great guy either. He's self-obsessed and mean. So why?_

* * *

******Okay the first thing i'm going to say is thank you so much for the amazing reviews - it cheered me up so much! :)**

**Unfortunately i'm not going to be able to update my story even though i love it so much and i so badly want to keep writing on it but school's got to come first this year because it's an exam year and school's decided to torture me with Mock exams. So between revising for the exams and actually sitting them my next 2 weeks are going to be packed. Truth is i shouldn't have even done this chapter but i felt like you deserved a little something after such a good response.**

**I know this isn't the best chapter i could write but please forgive me and i promise i'll be better after my exams are over. And please please review again and put a smile on my face :)**

**Next chapter will be in the restaurant so tell me what you want to see. Maybe some Niley or Jaylor? Or maybe you want Mitchie to meet somebody? Or perhaps you want a bit of hating. So tell me :D**


	6. Chapter 5 How Did You Get My Number?

**_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 5_**

**_Mitchie's P.O.V:_**

_I dug my heel into the dust angrily and folded my arms across my chest tightly, sighing with impatience. Jake, Miley and me were sat on a bench waiting outside the restaurant for Taylor and Shane to arrive with the bunch of idiots we were looking forward to spending the evening with. Yes that's a bit of sarcasm for you. And that's quite surprising. I'm not usually so wound up by everything and snappy but for some reason Nate pushes all the buttons you're not supposed to push. He's cocky, annoying and cares far too much about his appearance and popularity for my liking._

_Miley laughed softly and squeezed my hand comfortingly. She always does know what's running through my mind. I'm surprised she's handling the prospect of dinner with Nate and his team so well. I mean don't get me wrong she's level headed and her father's taught her to always give everyone a chance. But I know that's not what she wants to do. In her mind she's pacing up and down the pavement restlessly, biting her lip in concentration and housing a soft scowl on her pretty face._

_"Guys! Why the speed walk? Chill, relax and enjoy the walk. What happened to that?" Shane exclaimed, glaring at us playfully as he bounced up to us with Taylor on his arm. _

_"Oh umm sorry you two it just wasn't the best idea to walk with them. You don't want an argument so early do you Shane?" Miley softly said._

_"I guess so." Shane replied, frowning slightly with guilt at his friend's lack of enthusiasm. After all, he did arrange the situation we're stuck in._

_"How long are they going to keep us waiting? Did somebody leave their football back at school?" I said sarcastically, "Although I'm not moaning if they've changed their minds."_

_"Mitchie! Cut it out! He is my brother. So he's been inconsiderate sometimes but I'm fed up of all your squabbling. Your all my friends so at least try to get on for one night!" Shane cried with a meaningful glance at me._

_I held back any cutting responses and looked down at the floor. I guess sometimes you just forget that Shane and Nate are brothers. I guess it's because it seems so unlikely. Shane's so warm and funny while Nate is hostile and rude._

_The sudden appearance of the rest of our 'group' surprised us and by Nate's gloating smile that basically screamed his joy at winning this round I instantly knew that he had heard everything._

_"Oh I'm sure we're capable of behaving maturely. Isn't that right Mitchie?" Nate said walking up to the entrance and holding the door open for us girls as if to prove a point._

_I smiled sweetly at him and looked back for Miley who was just walking through the door behind me. Nate leaned down and whispering something in her ear, causing her to shuffle uncomfortably, mutter that she just needed Shane and pulled Shane outside._

_I walked towards the reserved table in the middle of the room and sat down next to Taylor, saving a seat next to me for Miley and indicating for Taylor to save Shane the seat next to her._

**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_I knew tonight wasn't a good idea. I should have made an excuse like I wasn't feeling too good or I needed to sort something out or maybe even I just promised Dad and Jackson I'd call them. But that doesn't matter – I'm here now and I can't get out of it. I feel so awkward though with Mitchie getting wound up and then annoying Shane with her comments. Nate leaning down and whispering, "Looking hot Stewart." just took it to a whole new level. What is up with that guy? Last term him and his friends made my life extremely difficult, he's invading my mind and now he's giving me a compliment, even if it's degrading. But I don't want his compliments or his put-downs. I don't want anything to do with him. He has power over me: to make me lose my concentration, to make me weak at the knees and to make me feel happy or sad with one word. I know what people would think if I told them this. They'd say I'm in love or I've got a crush. But that's not true – I don't like him at all. _

_And now I'm outside with Shane and he's looking at me weirdly while wondering what on earth is wrong with me._

_"Uum Miles, speak to me. You're standing there like an iceberg – frozen! Everyone's in the warmth reading the menu. There'll be no food left with them pigs!" Shane whined._

_"Oh right, sorry Shane. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for making you feel as if you can't socialise with both us and your friends from the football team. It's not like that I promise – this is just the first time we're trying it that's all. And don't take anything that Mitchie said to heart, she just felt like I needed cheering up. And we will do our best to get on tonight. But I'm so sorry if anything goes wrong." I apologised in advance for the disaster waiting to happen._

_"Aw Miley I know you're going to try, you always do and that's why you're my best friend in the whole world. I understand it's hard – Nate's a pain in the backside most of the time. But he's not as bad once you get to know him." Shane promised as he pulled me into a big bear hug._

_"Shane ooft your squishing me." I giggled but returned the hug happily and dragged him inside to our seats. Overall there were 14 of us around the table. Jake, Shane, Taylor, Mitchie, Me and two random guys called Josh and Ryan were sat on one side with Nate, Lucas and some other football players were on the other side of the table. To my delight Nate was sat directly opposite the empty chair that was saved for me._

_"You two took ageeees! We're all ready to order so hurry up and decide." Taylor pouted and promptly pulled Shane into his seat and practically shoved the menu in his face, "Miley! Take a look at the damn menu we're all starved." _

_"Tay stop worrying I already know what I'm ordering." I protested as she started to get up to come and deal with me. Scary stuff!_

_"How do you know what you want?" Nate interrupted, suddenly looking intrigued._

_"Umm I always have the Chicken Korma and Special Fried Rice. It's kind of a tradition with my Dad." I explained, fully aware of everybody's eyes on me._

_"Cool. Do you like Indian food a lot then?" he asked, almost as if he were determined to make the conversation last._

_"Yeah, I guess. Do you?" I quickly returned._

_"Of course." He replied with a friendly wink. _

_If only he were like this all the time and not so bipolar, I thought._

_The waitress came over and we all quickly ordered. I didn't really take any notice of people's orders but there was the obvious pattern of the lads choosing hotter and spicier dishes with us girls preferring the more mild dishes. To my surprise Nate ordered the Chicken Korma and when asked about his choice he simply answered, "I want a bit of a change. It'll be interesting to see what Miley finds so special about It." while flashing me a genuine smile. _

_For the first time in years I feel able to relax in a big crowd and enjoy the night while being myself and joining in the conversation instead of attempting to become invisible and shying away from any questions. I guess miracles do happen sometimes. _

_The food quickly arrived at the table and the conversation paused for a while as everybody dug into their meals as if they hadn't seen any food for days. Eventually the boys decided that they were full enough to stop eating._

_Mitchie nudged me softly and whispered "Hey Miles look over there by the bar. Wearing dark jeans and a blue checked top with blonde hair." grinning widely and pointing silently with her eyes._

_I looked over enthusiastic to see who had caught Mitchie's eye. Truth be told, she's never really paid any attention to a particular boy before. Yeah, she'll say that someone's fit but she's never gave them a second glance. That is until now of course. As my eyes singled out the boy catching Mitchie's eye, my very own eyes widened and if my jaw could, it would hit the floor. _

_"It can't be." I whispered looking at Mitchie who was looking at me with alarm in her eyes. She must really like the look of him to be so concerned about my reaction._

_"Umm Miles what's up? I asked you to look at that cute guy by the bar and then all of sudden you're eyes are as wide as saucers and you look like a goldfish." She asked confused._

_I seemed unable to answer in my state of shock and just stared at her numbly. _

_"Oooh I get it. You're shocked at how fit he is! I'm so glad you agree. Should I go over and talk to him?" Mitchie giggled looking over at him eagerly._

_"Umm no Mitch wait here a sec. I know that guy. He's my ex-boyfriend – his names Chad Dylan Cooper. I can't believe he's even here. Last thing I heard he'd moved to New York." I explained, gaining control of myself again._

_"Whoa seriously?!" Mitchie exclaimed causing the whole restaurant to turn to us. Yes, even Chad. His eyes lit with recognition and he smiled widely at me, beckoning me over. Of course he would. Unluckily for me I haven't changed so much in the year that he's been gone. I smiled weakly and rose out of my chair._

_"I'll just be real quick. I promise." I murmured to Mitchie and I watched her nod her head disappointedly making me feel even worse. It's the first time she's ever taken so much as a second glance at a boy never mind asked me for my opinion. But it's not as if I still like Chad. He left and I got over him. If he's single there's nothing to stop Mitchie making her move. I wouldn't be bothered. In all honesty the only boy that has the power to make my knees go weak is Nate Grey. And that area is strictly a no-go._

_"Hey Chad. Long time no see! What happened to New York?" I spoke loudly over the radio playing next to us._

_"I guess it just didn't work out. Dad didn't really enjoy his job and he just didn't connect with his new colleagues. Mum and Lily were homesick all the time and I was trying to get used to it but I missed all my friends. Mostly you." He grinned pulling me into a hug._

_"Well of course you missed us all. We're great." I joked slowly hugging him back, not daring to look back at the table to see the response it got._

_"Mi, we should really get together some time. You know, talk about everything. I didn't want us to break up but at the same time I didn't want us both struggling to make a long-distance relationship work." Chad said softly, keeping hold of my hands. Before he left I felt something but now… nothing._

_"Chad I understand but what happened, happened and I don't think we should go back to more than friends. Who knows what would have happened by now, we could have broke up on bad terms and not even be friends right now. It was best for it to happen the way it did." gently pulling my hands away, silently hoping that he'd accept what I said._

_"If that's how you feel. We can be…" Chad wavered off, unsure of what exactly we could be._

_"We can be great friends." I finished confidently._

_"That's cool. Especially because Mum's transferred Lily to this Hartbridge Boarding School that you used to rave about." He teased._

_I smacked his on his arm playfully and replied "Hey! It was a hell of a lot better than your posh sports specialist school in New York."_

_"True. I'm going to the all boys' school down the road from you so we'll have to meet up a lot. It'd be fun to meet your friends. Even if one of them is shooting me daggers right now. If looks could kill let's just say I wouldn't be standing here." He chuckled and I spun around to see who Chad was talking about. Probably Mitchie._

_However it was not Mitchie that he meant. She was sat deep in thought, playing thumb wars with herself. To anybody that knows her well that means she's upset and doesn't want to talk about it. To my intense surprise I could see Nate shooting deadly glances in our direction._

_I turned back to Chad and laughed uneasily. "Oh. Don't worry about Nate. He's bipolar."_

_"Looks to me like he's jealous. Is he your boyfriend? I think you should go reassure him that Miley plus Chad equals just friends." Chad said raising his left eyebrow with curiosity and amusement._

_"Nate? My boyfriend! No way. We barely know each other. You see my best friend Shane, the one flirting with the blonde haired girl, organised a meal for him, his friend, my two best friends and me. But he's on the football team that Nate, his brother, is the captain of and Nate insisted on a team meal. So Shane arranged this little set up and we're stuck with it. Nate and me don't get on. Me and him going out? How crazy." I babbled, trying to cover up my embarrassment. Unfortunately my annoying ability to blush gave me away._

_"Whatever you say Miley. Anyway, how about you introduce me to your friends? The dark haired girl looks cool." Chad suggested._

_"Oh my gosh! Really? Because she totally said you were cute when she saw you at the bar. That's when I recognised you and then she screamed and got your attention." I squealed with happiness._

_"She thinks I'm cute?" he asked smiling like a little kid who got given his favourite sweets._

_"I can't believe I just told you she thinks you're cute! Please don't tell her I said that. Her names Mitchie by the way." I said and grabbed his arm pulling him over to the table._

_"Hey guys. This is Chad, a friend of mine from back home. Chad this is Jake, Shane, Taylor, Mitchie, Josh and Ryan. And on the other side we've got Dan, Simon, Joe, Lucas, Nate, Lewis and David." I pointed to everybody for Chad and they all smiled politely at him. Well, except for Nate who sent him a stiff half-smile while looking him up and down with interest. _

_"Umm hey everyone." Chad smiled nervously looking around at everybody and trying to take it all in. _

_"Chad this is Mitchie, the best friend I could ever ask for. I would introduce you to my other best friends Shane and Taylor but they're too busy flirting." I said loud enough for them to hear me, smirking in their direction and rolling my eyes at their confused looks._

_"Hey. So how do you know Miley exactly then?" Mitchie asked, smiling warmly at Chad._

_"Um I'm from Miley's hometown. We were in the same friend group and got pretty close. We went out for a bit but we both decided that we were better off as friends, especially because I moved away to New York." Chad explained, looking anxiously at me in case he'd said something wrong. I smiled encouragingly at him and sat down in my chair, tuning out of their conversation and leaving them alone to get to know each other better. Something tells me they could be a great combination._

**_Nick's P.O.V:_**

_I sighed with frustration as I saw Miley head over to us with the blonde dude from the bar and composed myself, ready to become detached and indifferent. Something weird is happening to me because of Miley and I can't get to the bottom of it. When I saw her approach the boy sitting at the bar I had a sudden urge to run after her and pull her away and keep her to myself and when I saw them laughing like old friends I experience a feeling that I'd never felt before; jealously. My whole body tensed up with anger and I had to clench my fists together to control my anger. I can't tell anybody. Lucas would laugh and Shane's way too close to Miley for me to trust him with this. He'd probably go behind my back to Miley and have a good old laugh at Nate Grey._

_I sat and watched Miley sit down and take her phone out of handbag and texting somebody, most likely her Dad as from what I can see they're pretty close. I saw her pretty smile grace her face for a moment as she read the reply and quickly text back, sliding her phone back down and placing it on the table._

_Before I knew it my hand had reached out for Shane's phone and instantly opened his phone book, scrolling down and searching for the girl that seems to be running through my mind constantly lately. _

_I entered the number into my phonebook and text her "Hey how was your Chicken Korma? Not too spicy for you? :P_

_I watched her expression carefully as she received the text and felt a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach as I watched her lips form a slight smile and as she looked up with confusion I flashed her a cheeky smile and waved my phone at her. I heard her laugh quietly and a few seconds later my phone flashed._

_"Too spicy for me? Don't be stupid :] How did you get my number?" Miley"_

_"I'm an evil genius. Joke, I actually just stole it off Shane's phone. You looked bored so I thought I'd be your knight in shining armour and rescue you ;] THE Nate G."_

_"You're sad you know that. THE Nate? Are you being serious? And my night in shining armour? Bigheaded much? :P"_

_"Ouch! You just hurt my feelings :[ So how do you know this Chad then? He and Mitchie look like they're hitting it off ;]"_

_"You'll survive, it's no good being a cry-baby :D Erm, mine and Chad's families go way back so we grew up close friends. We did date for two years but then he moved to New York and we decided we weren't working out anyway so there was no point trying a long distance relationship. And this is the first time I've seen him since."_

_"Cools. Is he back permanently or just visiting?"_

_"They've just moved back and his sister's going to Hartbridge. He's going to the all boys' school down the road. Why are we texting each other? You're sat across the table from me!" _

_"That's cool. Does he play football? We always beat his team when we play them. And we're texting each other because we're just cool like that and because I can't be bothered to shout across the table :P Good enough reason for you Miss Miley?"_

_"I guess so Mr Nick lol"_

**_Mitchie's P.O.V:_**

_Oh my god! Chad and me get along so well. We like the same music, movies and food and we can have a conversation about everything and anything. I've only known him for like ten minutes and it already feels like he's one of my closest friends! I just don't want to rush things and decide I like him as more than that though. First of all I need to talk to Miley about it all, I think she approves because otherwise she wouldn't have encouraged me to talk to him but she might just be being really unselfish. Secondly I don't want to get mixed signals and make a fool of myself. He probably doesn't even like me like that. He probably still likes Miley – she is beautiful after all and what's more she doesn't even know it._

_Thinking about Miley reminded me that she probably had nobody to talk to so I turned around to include her in the conversation. However I realised that I was worrying about nothing as I saw a smile creep onto her face while reading a text and her fingers flew across her keypad to reply. Her Dad, I instantly thought and I was about to turn back to Chad when Nate caught my eye. As soon as Miley put down her phone he picked his up and read the text, looked up and wait for it: LAUGHED WITH MILEY!_

_Am I going crazy? The Hartbridge pin-up of the year and Miley wouldn't text each other and laugh together would they? But then again they do seem to have been putting their differences aside tonight. And I didn't miss the jealous look Nate got on his face when he saw Miley with Chad._

_Poor Miley is going to have to answer a lot of questions tonight, I thought to myself. I couldn't help but smile thinking about quizzing a blushing Miley about this 'thing' happening between her and Nate. What fun!_

_With Taylor and Shane getting closer to announcing their love for each other, me being attracted to Miley's ex-boyfriend and now Miley and Nate getting along almost too well all I can say is that this term is definitely going to be a interesting one._

_"Guys! I think we should go. We're getting glared at by the waiters and I really don't want to be tired on my first day of lessons – detention on the first day would not be a good idea." Jake pointed out._

_Sure enough all of us were on our feet and out of the door before the waiter could say, "Have a nice evening."_

_We all said goodbye to Chad as he got in his car and drove off and we all started heading back. Jake caught up with me and we walked along together talking about the night with Taylor and Shane behind us giggling over some inside joke. I couldn't see Miley or Nate for that matter but I suspected that they were dawdling together behind us all. Soon enough we were outside the house that weirdly all of us are in expect the girls are in the female sector and the boys are in the male sector and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw Miley and Nate walked together talking in hushed tones and I heard Miley's bell like laughter. Knowing Miley so well I noticed the big smile on her face from talking to Nate and she just seemed brighter from talking to him. Nor did I miss the look of admiration and fascination on Nate's face as he listened to Miley speak and replied to her with as much enthusiasm as possible. I cannot help but wonder if Nate will stay like this or whether he will be back to his usual arrogant self tomorrow. Unfortunately I cannot help but think it will be the latter – and hopefully Miley knows that too._

_"Night, see you all in class." I said and walked up the steps to the girl's entrance where I waited for Miley and Taylor to say their goodbyes. Unsurprisingly Taylor and Shane were stood together hugging goodbye and laughing at something Shane had said._

_"Bye Joe, bye everybody" Taylor shouted walking up to me._

_"I guess this is goodnight then." Miley said to everybody but especially Nate as she gave him a small smile and a wave as she skipped up the steps to Taylor and me and we walked up to ours rooms. Suddenly wiped out from the night's events I quickly changed into my pyjamas, removed my make-up, brushed my teeth, threw a brush through my hair carelessly and climbed into bed. Taylor and Miley seemed to have the same idea as me and in a few minutes the lights were off and we were all falling into a deep sleep._

_Only as I heard Miley's soft sigh as she turned over to get comfortable did I remember that I meant to ask her for all the juicy details about her text conversation with Nate. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!_

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**AN: Okay i know i said there wasn't going to be a chapter until my Mock exams had finished but of course you do have to have breaks between revision or it get's too much and in between revision for the past 5 days i've been writing little bits. And somehow i got a chapter out of it :) It may not be very good because obviously i've got other things on my brain. Everything's going great though and i was so happy today because i found out that i got an A* on my Maths!!**

**Please excuse me on any rubbish parts but let me know what you thought wasn't so good because i'll clear anything up in the next chapter. **

**REVIEW! If i get enough reviews you may just get another chapter by the end of the weekend :D** **And as always tell me anything you might want to see. I did actually get inspiration for this from two of my reviewers so i will listen to your ideas x**

**Also please check out terzo and her stories. She doesn't seem to be getting any reviews and i've got some really great reviewers so please give her some support on here :) She's just got a new trailer out and she's thinking about replacing one of her stories with it so now's the perfect time to go take a look. Thank youu :D**


	7. Chapter 6 Is That The Time?

_**Sing Your Heart Out - Chapter 6**_

**Just to let you all know before reading this chapter what year everybody is in for this story. I have decided that Shane is going to be the same age as them. Also just to make it easier I am going to use American school grades in this story even though it's an English school as the sections Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior work best for the story. And they are all going to be Juniors I think I said somewhere in the story that this was Miley's second year here so let's just say she joined the school as a Sophomore but the rest of them have been here since Freshman year. **

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**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_I woke up to the sunlight shining in through the curtains, a true rarity for September in England. Usually by now you wake up to dark grey skies and rain splattering against the windows. Mitchie and Taylor were still sleeping peacefully in their beds, tired out from the night before and I looked at the alarm clock to find out the time and whether I should consider waking up the sleepy heads before we're late for lessons on the first day…_

_9.30AM! I slapped my head lightly as I remembered us coming home last night and rushing to get into bed, carelessly forgetting to prepare for the next day._

_"Mitchie! Taylor! It's ten flipping am in the morning. Lessons started 2 hours ago. We're late." I shrieked in panic, startling Mitchie in the bed next to me and causing her to roll out of bed, looking up with such wide eyes that I couldn't help but let out a giggle._

_"Miles please say this is just a prank. Sure, I'll be mad at you for waking me up so badly, but I'll get over it. Detention on the first day of school without even attending any lessons however I don't think I can handle." Mitchie pleaded._

_"Mitch I'm sorry I wish I was playing a joke but seriously I'm not – look at the time." I sighed and ran into the bathroom with the clothes I'd quickly found. I brushed my teeth in record time and I slipped on a short denim skirt with black tights, a plain white vest top and a thin black cardigan. As soon as I opened the bathroom door Mitchie pushed through and closed the door in a rush._

_"Tay, come on get the hell up! We're already in some deep trouble." I said and pulled her up out of her bed despite her protests._

_"I'm way too tired Miles. Please just a few more minutes." She whispered, rubbing her eyes slightly._

_"No you can't you'll be awake in a minute. Just wait for Mitchie to be done in the bathroom I'll sort your clothes out." I suggested._

_"Thanks Miles – you're the best."_

_"I know, I know." I grinned and took out a blue and purple checked top with some dark skinny jeans and purple ballerina shoes and threw them to her waiting arms._

_With perfect timing Mitchie came out of the bathroom and I gently pushed Taylor in._

_"Ugh! Miles I can't believe we've done this. But I don't get it. Why hasn't Shane or somebody come looking for us? They would have had time between first and second lesson if they ran quickly and it'll be break now." Mitchie moaned, combing through the tangles in her hair angrily._

_"I dunno Mitchie, maybe he was kept behind after the lessons or something. He's got to have a good reason."_

_"I guess so. Does this look okay? I really don't want Mr Moorstone on my back again for 'Inappropriate clothing for education'" Mitchie motioned to her outfit with a perfect imitation of our head teacher._

_I turned around from putting some black ankle boots on and looked at her. She was wearing dark skinny jeans with a black and white striped tight t-shirt with black ballerina pumps and a grey wool cardigan._

_"Mitchie it's fine. He only said that when you turned up in your clothes from a party the night before because if you changed you'd be late."_

_I laughed remembering the sight of Mitchie rushing into the classroom wearing a silver glittery dress with her hair and make-up still perfectly done from the previous night and the only change being a pair of grey converse on her feet. Unfortunately for her Mr Moorstone chose that lesson to check up on our class or she would have escaped with a few raised eyebrows from staff until she could change at break time and some snickers from other students._

_"That's all well and good for you to say Miley Ray Stewart. You didn't have to waste your break time with a lecture on how to dress and behave in the correct manner at school. And anyway you're looking cute today. Would that be for a certain Grey brother?" Mitchie said smirking knowingly at me._

_"Umm Mitchie Shane's my best friend, he really doesn't care what I wear. He's only got eyes for Taylor." I smiled innocently at her deciding to play dumb._

_"Miles you can't fool me, I'm your best friend for a reason. I saw you and Nate texting each other across the table last night. Don't get me wrong it was adorable – it was just surprising."_

_"Fine okay I was texting him. But it was only to be polite. I couldn't ignore him when he was sitting right across from me and he saw for himself that I received his message." I insisted._

_"Whatever you say honey. But I can see what's going to happen. Nate is going to see what a beautiful, talented and great girl you are and he's going to fall head over heels in love with you. And you might just too. Who knows?" Mitchie carried on just as adamant as me._

_I shook my head lightly. "Mitch you really need to get some help for these weird thoughts that pass through your head. Nate Grey and me? Seriously – don't ever say that aloud where other people can hear."_

_Mitchie scowled and stuck her tongue out at me. At that moment Taylor burst out of the bathroom and shouted, "I'm ready!"_

_"Good. Then let's make an appearance before the punishment get's worse. Who's our tutor this year?" I asked as I pulled them both out of the bedroom and locked the door._

_"All three of us have got Miss Hudgens for a form tutor. And this year our class stays the same for all our lessons so our form just goes to the different teachers for each class. That means we're together for everything." Mitchie grinned and Taylor squealed in delight. I just smiled softly at their excitement._

_"Oh my god guys that is SO great!" Shane's in ours as well, and Jake. Unfortunately I heard Nate and Lucas say that they've got Miss Hudgens for a form tutor." Taylor looked at me sympathetically._

_Of course, I thought. Taylor is completely unaware that there was a kind of truce between Nate and me last night._

_"Oh Taylor don't worry about that. I don't think there's going to be any problems between Miley and Nate. But she can explain everything to both of us later." Mitchie grinned victoriously at me and grabbed mine and Taylor's hand and begun to run to our classroom._

_As we ran into the classroom, slightly out of breath we saw everybody look up with amusement._

_"Ah girls! We were just wondering where on earth you had got to. We were just about to send Shane out to look for you." Miss Hudgens smiled at us welcomingly._

_"Sorry Miss. We forgot to set our alarm." Mitchie muttered apologetically and me and Taylor both nodded our heads in agreement with Mitchie's statement._

_"Okay girls don't worry about it – you've not missed much as you're off schedule today to get settled in and get everything sorted. Could you just stay behind for a few minutes afterwards though?" she asked._

_"Yes miss." We said and walked towards our assigned seats. Luckily for us our surnames are close together as Stewart, Swift and Torres so we get to sit together quite close to the back._

_I sighed as I sat down. I knew what was coming. Miss Hudgens may be a great person and she's an amazing drama teacher. But she can't let us off completely. It will go on the computer that we weren't here for the lessons before break and she has to be able to say that she dealt with it. In other words we have detention._

_It seemed that everybody had completed all the jobs in the first two periods and there was going to be an important assembly halfway through this period. After she had told the class just to relax and talk for awhile she came over to us and explained everything that she had told the others at the start of the day._

_"Hey girls as you've probably guessed I'm your form tutor. Now there have been a lot of changes this year to the system so I'll just explain them quickly. Each form has their own classroom that they will come to each day. I will register you and then your English, Maths, Science, History and Geography teachers will come to this room and teach you. For ICT, Drama, Music and Art you will go to the specific rooms for them. That's nine lessons a day so they're shortening the lesson periods down to 45 minutes. The school day will start at 7.45am with registration for 15 minutes. Then there will be two lessons and a break from 9.30am until 9.40am. Then you will have three lessons until dinner from 11.55am to 12.55pm. In the afternoon there will a quick registration for five minutes, then two lessons, a ten minute break from 2.30pm to 2.40pm and the school day will finish at 4.10pm. I know it's going to seem like torture but you must know that Hartbridge isn't going to take it easy on you. Oh I almost forgot – your Physical Education day is Wednesday. This means that when school ends you will have an hour of sport which is essential."_

_"Yay – sounds like bundles of fun!" Mitchie said sarcastically._

_"Just give it a go Mitchie. I know it's not like most schools and I know this is going to push you but I know you three are capable. The last change this year is that as everyone has their own classroom with their own desk the school has got rid of lockers and brought in desks with number combinations to hold your books in. For you guys this week is going to be extra hard because you're going to have half an hour of detention every day. Tonight you can get onto sorting your desks like everybody else did this morning. Oh and on Wednesday you will have to come to detention after your Sport lesson. For now you girls can go catch up with any friends of yours and in a few minutes we'll be going down to the auditorium as the head had an important announcement." Miss Hudgens finished off and smiled sympathetically and turned to go back to her desk._

_"Wow! They are some big changes." Taylor exclaimed as we turned our chairs into a circle of three._

_"Yeah, it's going to be really hard. Especially as we're going to have homework on top of that and any extra practises for any sports or clubs." I groaned._

_"At least we know why Shane couldn't come and get us – it's the change in schedule. And knowing him he had something on at break." Mitchie said, happy that her friend wasn't partly to blame for the week of detention._

_"Hey guys – did I just hear my fabulous name." Shane joked, grabbing a chair and joining our group._

_"Yeah, Mitchie earlier was panicking so much at being late and she wondered why you hadn't come and got us. But now Miss has explained the schedule we know why. So you're off the hook." I explained._

_"Phew! I'd hate to be in trouble with my best buddies." Shane laughed_

_"What do you think of the new timetable?"_

_"It's going to be a nightmare. I've got football practise anyway and then there's going to a load of homework. How are we going to find time to hang out?" he complained._

_Mitchie grinned. "The weekends silly. Hey, we could try out for the cheerleading team and then we'd be hanging out then." She joked._

_"Mitch! That's a great idea." Taylor squealed._

_"Yeah that would be awesome. You guys could cheer me on and then we could hang out in breaks and stuff." Joe agreed_

_"Guys. Mitch was joking. There's no way we'd get onto the squad and there's no way we'd fit in. Right Mitchie?" I blurted out quickly with the horrible thought flashing through my mind of wearing the skimpy cheer uniform and having everyone's attention on my dancing. I shuddered unintentionally._

_"Yeah I mean I want to concentrate on my acting this year. Miss Hudgens said she's going to put on a big musical for the end of the summer term and she's going to be preparing for that in advance." Mitchie backed me up hastily._

_"Mitchie you know that's a rubbish excuse. Rehearsals for that will be on different days to sports stuff And Miles pleeeeeease. It'll be great opportunity to gain some confidence and to make some more friends." Taylor begged us with Shane standing next to her looking just as determined to get us to try._

_Mitchie and me turned to each other with dismay and after a few seconds we turned back to Taylor and Shane and chorused, "No!"_

_Taylor began to protest loudly and Shane was almost shouting at us for being 'so stubborn and unwilling'_

_"Keep it down back there. Anyway we may as well make our way to the meeting now and get in there early." Miss Hudgens ordered. Saved for now I thought as I got up willingly, hoping that it would put an end to the subject._

_"Don't think that we're giving up on this!" Shane threatened as he rose up from his seat to follow the crowd._

_Once in there Shane immediately ran up to the seats at the back to some of his friends that were already in there and called out for us to follow him. Usually we would say no but seeing as they were the people we'd gone out for the meal with last night I mumbled "Let's just go up there. At least then we can ignore what's being said and talk between us." and began the trek up the steps. Taylor followed behind us and not walking with us to make it obvious that she wasn't happy with our decision._

_We sat next to Shane as far away as possible from Nate. Even though we'd been talking last night and we seemed to get on great it was only when nobody was watching and whenever Lucas looked at Nate last night I couldn't help but notice that Nate immediately took care not to be associated with me. Whatever Mitchie said it was obvious that this wasn't the case. He simply cares too much about his status in the school._

_As everyone filed into the hall and the seats began to fill up Mr Moorstone headed up onto the stage._

_"Okay listen up! As your form tutors should have told you there have been a lot of changes at Hartbridge Boarding School this term. I am confident that these changes are going to improve the standard of this school and I think each student should embrace them. As juniors it is incredibly important for us to make sure that you are up to the standard of this school before you go into your final year with us. This means that we have set certain requirements for you. We want you all to join one extra-curricular club such as a sports team or performing arts group. Finally as you may have heard we are putting you into pairs to write a song and perform it at the school talent show at Easter. At the end of this meeting I would like you to go back to your classroom's and get your assigned pairs from your teacher." Mr Moorstone finished._

_I turned and rolled my eyes at Mitchie at the mention of the extra-curricular groups. That's all I need. Now Taylor is going to be even more persistent that we try out for the cheerleading team._

_"Before you all go I just want to make it clear that this task is of very much importance to the school and your future here. Hartbridge Boarding School has very high standards. Therefore it is very important for us to test you throughout your time here. People from all over the school can enter the talent show if they choose but for you it is essential. If you do not succeed I am afraid your future at this school will be uncertain." Mr Moorstone announced casting a terrified silence over the students._

_All around me people were looking at their friends and talking anxiously, in a state of disbelief._

_"Surely they can't do that. Surely they can't just kick somebody out if they can't sing or write a song." I whispered, looking at Mitchie for support._

_"Miley you know that's not the case. Everyone here is accepted not just because of his or her intelligence but also because of his or her abilities in other areas such as sport and music. That's why everybody here is so good at everything." Mitchie spoke softly._

_"That's not fair." I said._

_"Miles don't worry about it. You're incredibly talented. When you play your guitar it always sounds so beautiful and I've never heard a voice as good as yours. And the best thing is nobody knows. This is your chance Miles. It's like your Dad's always told you – Life's what you make it." Taylor quoted and pulled Mitchie and me into a hug._

_"They're right Miley you know. You've got nothing to worry about." Shane reassured me, "Now let's go find out our pairs!"_

_I laughed at the antics of this supposedly 16 year old boy and surprisingly found myself almost looking forward to finding out my partner for the project._

_We all rushed to the classroom and clambered into our seats waiting impatiently for Miss Hudgens to arrive. The teachers hadn't been given the lists of pairs until the meeting had finished and they had to stay behind to collect the all-important piece of paper. Mr Moorstone is obviously taking it very seriously._

_"Hey everyone, yes I do have the list of pairs so just listen up and make no noise until I've finished. That way we can get this done quickly. Okay?" Miss Hudgens said as she walked to her desk. "So the pairs are done as girl and boy and as there are 20 people in our form and 20 people in the other Junior form we will have 20 pairs altogether."_

_I looked around the room at who my potential partner could be. I noticed that most of the boys in our form were in the football team and there were a few people I did not know._

_"Now the pairs are: Jake and Mitchie, Ryan and Claire, Lucas and Alex, David and Lily, Josh and Scarlett, Dan and Isabella, Simon and Gemma, Lewis and Holly, Shane and Taylor and last but not least Nate and Miley." Miss Hudgens announced looking around to see our reactions._

_Taylor and Shane were happy dancing in the middle of the classroom, Mitchie and Jake were just talking casually and Lucas was flirting with his partner Alex already. Then there was me. Frozen in my seat with shock and unable to even force a reaction from myself. All I could do was observe everybody else._

_Then Nate spoke up. But he didn't make me feel better and he wasn't even coming over to talk to me. He made me feel worse; he made me feel like my world was tumbling down. And he wasn't even talking to me._

_"Ugh! Do I have to work with a geek? I mean look at her, does she even try?" Nate moaned to one of his football friends._

_"Dude she's not that bad. She was really cool last night." I could faintly hear his friend stick up for me. But that didn't matter. His words are irrelevant; it's Nate's that matter. It's Nate's that hurt._

_"Josh don't be stupid. Nate's right, dude go see if there's any way to swap." Lucas turned away from his partner for a second to interrupt with his advice._

_"Miley what's wrong? I thought you and Nate were getting on last night." Mitchie asked quietly._

_"Yeah, we were. But it was clear it was only for that night. Mitchie I'm a loser. He's a star footballer that everybody loves. We're not meant to get on. And even if I wanted to there's no way it would happen. Do you really think he'd ever risk anything for me?" I replied._

_"Miles I'm sorry. But you're just going to have to put up with him enough to get a song and then perform it. Then you never have to speak to him again." Mitchie said sensibly._

_"Mitchie how am I gonna survive this? Please help me." I begged._

_"I'll be here whenever you need me. I always am." She promised._

**_Nate's P.O.V:_**

_"Why me?!" I whispered to myself furiously as I grabbed my Ipod and turned it up to full blast, willing it to let me forget the current dilemma._

_I looked back at Miley's desk, interested in her reaction to our pairing. I saw her talking to Mitchie desperately and Mitchie attempting to calm her down. It's pretty obvious why Miley is so upset. Me. And surprisingly it kind of upsets me that I've upset Miley. Last night I found out that she's a really great girl. But I can't just get along with her like that. All the lads will laugh at me. I've got no other choice and I wish she could understand that. But I can't even talk to her about it without rumours starting to fly. And then I'll just hurt her even more by denying them. No, it's better if I'm cruel to be kind._

_"Miss, is there anyway to swap partners? I just don't think Miley and me will work well together and I don't want to risk my place here at Hartbridge." I asked._

_"Nick I'm sorry but there's no way I can just change partners without going to the head. And I doubt even then it could happen. He's put these pairs together extremely carefully. I suggest you try to prove to the school that even if you're put in a tricky situation you can fix things and work something out." She replied with a brisk smile and turned back to her work._

_Well I guess that's it then. I've got to work with Miley. But how is she going to react to it? Especially now she's heard me try and switch partners. But more importantly, how am I going to work with Miley on this and still keep myself away from her? Look's like I'm facing my very own Mission Impossible._

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**Please anyone who reads this press the review button - i'd really appreciate it. If the reviews don't improve i'm just going to have a review limit and if they don't reach it then i wont post i guess. I've literally taken up my Saturday afternoon for this so it'd make me really happy for you to tell me what you think :)**

**Okay so here's another chapter :) Pleeease review because for the amount of favourites and alerts this story has got the reviews aren't that good. However my reviewers for last chapter were absolutely FANTASTIC : Niley23 Alex, JazzyxNileyxFizzle, WeAreLoveStory and fallingstar2008. This chapter is for you guys :D**


	8. Chapter 7 This Spells Disaster!

**_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 7_**

Dedicated to niley16 - hope you're feeling better than you did when you reviewed my last chapter :)

**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_I saw and heard it all. Nobody failed to notice Nate approach the teacher's desk, mainly because the girl's in the class drool over him and stalk him constantly. And the whole class definitely heard his request. And I took great discomfort in the round of excited whispers that followed the conversation at the front of the classroom. Nor did I miss the nosey glances back at me to capture my reaction – no doubt for people to run straight out of the classroom to tell all of their friends and spread the gossip around the campus like wildfire. _

_The worst thing is he doesn't even look guilty, maybe a bit worried at a push. Then again he's probably just worried that he won't be able to crawl out of being my partner._

_Ugh! He makes me so… mad. It's like my head needs to explode from my new-found anger and my fists are clenched tightly in an attempt to control myself and stop me from making a scene. Each and every word he spoke to Miss felt like a kick in the stomach with each attack getting more painful. HE DOESN'T WANT TO RISK HIS PLACE HERE?! How dare he. Did he even think about how it would make me feel to hear those words escape from his mouth? Well it hurt despite my desperateness to have the ability to simply shrug it off and move on without a care in the world. And it annoys the hell out of me that he affects me so much. I can't develop ANY feelings for him whatsoever, whether it's love or friendship. It would only cause me an unbearable amount of heartbreak._

_"Miles, what are you daydreaming about? The bell just went – everyone's gone." Taylor whispered in my ear, nudging me and abruptly pulling me out of my thoughts._

_"Oh, um it doesn't matter. Nothing major. Come on let's go for some ice-cream or pizza or any sort of food – I'm starving after missing breakfast!" I replied with a forced smile to fool her into not worrying. Luckily it seemed to work._

_"Pizza and ice-cream." Mitchie squealed, jumping up and down with excitement and dragging us out of the door._

_"Um could I just talk to Miley for a second?" I heard a voice from the side of the door._

_"Can't it wait? We're going for some lunch." Taylor sighed impatiently._

_I looked between Nate and my friends. Nate was casually leaning against the wall looking, dare I say it, pretty hot and looking at me with almost pleading eyes. The eyes that I think I might have mentioned tend to hypnotise me. Taylor was glaring at Nate with clear annoyance in her face, Mitchie just looked anxious for my response and Shane was staring at me intensely as if to encourage me to be brave and face the music. **(Oh my gosh I'm in such a sad mood that I laughed at this because the music she's got to face is a singing competition! LOL)**_

_"Miley you can meet them in a minute. This is actually important." Nate almost ordered._

_"I don't see why it can't wait until after lunch. Unless your ashamed to be seen with someone so low." I snapped._

_"That's unfair. I just don't think my friends would understand. And Lucas proved me right in class."_

_"Funny that. I could have sworn that you were in control of your own life, not Lucas." _

_"Can you stop arguing with me for one second and just talk to me." Nate shouted_

_"Fine! Guys I'll meet you in the pizza parlour in a few minutes."_

_"Um Miles are you sure you don't want us to wait around the corner or something?" Mitchie asked uneasily._

_"For god's sake, she can look after herself you know. And I'm not exactly going to do anything to her." Nate groaned._

_"We aren't so sure." Taylor muttered and looked back at me for confirmation. I nodded my head slightly and walked in the opposite direction, signalling Nate to follow me._

_"So what's so important that it can't wait for me to eat?" I asked_

_"Um well you see. Well the thing is," Nate stammered rubbing his neck uncomfortably, "I guess I'm trying to say…"_

_"Just spit it out already! In fact I'll say it for you because I can pretty much guess what this is about. You want to talk about what we're going to do about the talent show, right?" _

_"Yeah. I mean it's just I asked for us to swap because I figured that we'd both be happier like that but you heard Miss Hudgens. It's a no go."_

_"Well we've not got any other choices have we? I'm not getting kicked out of here because I don't get on with somebody. We work together and we just get on with it. End of. So can I go now?" _

_"Miley, you really don't understand! I can put up with working with you but there's no way I'm getting on stage and singing with you in front of all of my friends. I'd be a joke and I'd never live it down." Nate exclaimed, suddenly looking incredibly angry._

_Usually I'd become scared and timid, maybe even apologise and readily take on the blame – anything to avoid a confrontation. But even though his words made me want to give up my pretence of coolness and cry they also made me angry, like I was about to burst from held in emotions that suddenly wanted to come pouring out. So I let them escape._

_"Do you really think you're so above everybody else Nate because you kick around a football?! Well you aren't. You are not better than me because you have a lot of friends. And you need to start thinking of other people instead of yourself all of the time. I don't care if you get your ass kicked out of here, I certainly won't miss you. But I'm not letting you ruin it for me. So shut up whining and for once in your life step up and have the guts to stand up against your friends." I screamed at him._

_As everything I said sunk in, Nate's face was covered in shock at my outburst._

_"Miles what's going on?" Mitchie gasped, slightly out of breath as she ran to my side._

_"Absolutely nothing of importance. We're finished now. How did you get here anyway?" I asked, quickly changing the subject._

_"Okay don't be mad but we stayed around the corner because we didn't think it was best to leave you two alone. Turns out we were right. We could hear you screaming from where we were." Mitchie explained._

_"It's fine, we'll go for lunch now." _

_"Yeah just run away from the problem like you always do. You criticise me Miley Stewart but you're not exactly perfect." Nate said, recovering slightly from his silence._

_Mitchie started to respond but I interrupted her._

_"Yeah, I'm not perfect but I will definitely never deliberately hurt anybody or disrespect anybody. And I certainly won't turn myself into a lie for other people. Because that's all you are Nate. I know deep down that you're not the selfish jerk that you act like but until you realise that being a horrible person isn't an achievement I'm not going to waste my breathe on you." _

_"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Nate whispered, clearly upset and swiftly turned and walked away before _

_"I know more than you think." I whispered softly to myself with a single tear rolling down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away roughly before Mitchie could notice and put on a fake smile._

_I linked my arm with Mitchie's and pulled her in the direction of food. Yes, she'll definitely want an incredibly detailed explanation but it will have to wait until I'm ready to retell everything without becoming an emotional wreck._

_As we got closer to the pizza parlour Taylor jumped up and shouted "Over here!" with Shane yanking her down, most likely begging her to sit down and stop attracting people's attention._

_But as her friends we know that Taylor doesn't compromise for anybody, not even her crush. _

_"You're here finally. What happened back there? You took ageeees. And everybody's talking about some row between Nate and a girl. I'm guessing that girl is you." Taylor questioned._

_"Um, it was just a little disagreement. I'll explain after we've eaten, I'm far too hungry to talk." I said, playing the event down as much as possibly. It's no big deal, right?_

_You keep telling yourself that Miley, but it doesn't make it true, I thought to myself. Even though I've tried desperately to tell myself that I don't fancy Nate, a part of me always has. I've just had to hide it and deny it to everyone because it's not realistic. Nate loving me can never be my fairytale ending._

_Mitchie and me went up to order our lunch: a margarita pizza for Taylor and Joe to share, a barbeque chicken pizza for Mitchie and me to share and four Diet Coke's. Soon enough we were back at our table digging into our pizzas and talking about the new term and anything about our summer that we hadn't covered. I didn't enter into the conversation much as my mind was occupied. All I wanted to do was run through the words spoken over and over again. After a chance to calm down I can't believe how I reacted. I'm not usually the type of person to lose my temper but he just hit a nerve and over the past year I've just got sick of him treating me like dirt when I haven't even done anything._

_"Miley you're off in a world of your own. We've just been asking you how Jackson's doing at university for the past five minutes. You were just staring blankly at your lap." Taylor laughed._

_"Are you alright?" Shane asked, "Actually that's a silly question you obviously aren't because of Nate. I don't know much about what went on just then but you've got to ignore him. I'm so sorry for anything hurtful that he's said. I promise it will be a lie – you're a great girl and he's an idiot."_

_"Shane don't feel like you have to say sorry for your brother, because he definitely isn't feeling the slightest bit guilty. We just argued about this project. He said that he'll work with me on it but there's no way he's singing with me in front of his friends. Then I just got angry and shouted at him. Mitchie heard it all so if you want to know what was said exactly ask her because I just want to forget it."_

_"Well if you girls don't mind I've got to rush off and see coach before next lesson. Ice-cream on me at the end of the day to make up for my idiot of a brother." Shane grinned and ran off with a quick wave behind him._

_"Miles are you sure you're okay I mean it's great that you're being so calm about it but if you feel like you can't cope we'll help you persuade school to swap you." Mitchie sympathised._

_"Thanks for you're support Mitchie, I really appreciate it but I'll be fine. I'll work with him on the song – he agreed to do that. And then he can choose whether to perform with me or not. I'll prepare myself to do it with or without him. That way I'm still completing the project." I explained_

_"That's a great idea! But if he even says one word that's out of line tell me and he won't get away with it." Taylor threatened._

_"Yeah, I'm with Taylor. If you want to rise above him despite his bad attitude and even help him out then I say good for you. But please don't let him get to you." Mitchie agreed._

_I giggled at her short yet determined speech and linked arms with both Mitchie and Taylor._

_"I'll be more than fine. Nate Grey is just an arrogant and self-obsessed idiot who really needs to find something worthwhile in life other than kicking a ball and being a jerk. He's not worth my tears and he won't get them." I promised._

_"That's the spirit! Oooh what do we have next? I'm so not going to get used to the timetable." Taylor moaned._

_Mitchie shrugged her shoulders and started rummaging around in her bag. With no result she impatiently tipped her bag upside down and her books landed in a pile on the ground with a heavy thud. We hadn't quite got round to putting our books in our desks._

_"Miss Torres! Stop right there. Is that any way to treat your school books? Am I taking that as you do not want to learn?" we heard a voice thunder from a window._

_"Umm no sir, I just couldn't find my timetable." Mitchie called up looking incredibly cross by now. Unluckily for her it had to be the head teacher watching._

_"If I am correct you were not in a few lessons this morning. I will not bother to go into that matter any further and I will rely on Miss Hudgens to deal with you in the appropriate way. However Mitchie, you will probably find that you simply weren't given your timetable. So for goodness sake pick everything up off the floor and do not do it again!" he called as he walked away from the window, trying to keep a straight face._

_"Ugh! Now I feel like a plonker." Mitchie whined_

_The bell rung, signalling the end of lunch and I pulled Taylor and Mitchie along to our classroom. May as well try and make a better start to the afternoon than the morning._

_Nate's P.O.V:_

_Well that went well. I don't know why I even tried to talk to Miley. Some instinct just sort of told me that she deserved more than me going behind her back and swapping partners or whatever. I wanted to talk to her about it and to make her understand. All I did was cause more upset. I want to get to know Miley and I want us to be friends but the universe seems to be making it very clear that it's not possible. Maybe we're not meant to mix. But something tells me that I should keep trying to win her over._

_There's just something alluring about Miley. I knew from day one that she wasn't like other girls – she was special. But I could tell that she was also dangerous. She was unique and shy so she was made fun of - being associated with her wouldn't be a smart move for me. So I decided to follow the crowd and it became a habit to be mean to her. I settled for the fact that I could never have her and I couldn't be around her. Sometimes I'd even approach her to be a jerk just so I could look at her. I hid all my feelings from everybody including Shane and I became the person I am today._

_But then last night happened. I got a chance to know Miley. The more time I spent with her the more mesmerised I became by her beauty and her personality. I saw the real her – sweet, funny, intelligent and so much more. She's got it all. But what kills me is that I can't have her. I can't make her happy because I'm too scared._

_I know that I should just forget about her and concentrate on other things but after the small glimpse of what my life could be like with Miley in it I'm not sure that it's going to be an option._

_I've well and truly screwed up any progress with her now though. I was finding it hard enough to explain to Miley and she just seemed so unaffected by the situation, like she couldn't care less. So I became irritated and words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I told her that I would never perform with her and look like a loser. I could see the pain in her eyes as they started to well up. But then all of a sudden she was screaming at me. And her words hurt me more than anything had ever hurt before. My whole body became frozen in a state of disbelief at the explosion from the girl standing before me._

_I struggled to keep my barrier and be strong but I could feel myself falling apart. So I turned and walked away before anybody could witness me breaking down._

_I tried to avoid bumping into any of my friends; I just wanted to be alone. But Lucas was looking for me and sure enough he dragged me to the football pitch to have a quick kick around. At least I can play decently without much concentration because my head was definitely not in the game._

_I wanted to be early to the class so that I could sit down and have my earphones in before Miley, Shane, Taylor and Mitchie could arrive, as I wasn't expecting a nice welcome. But Lucas had other ideas as he insisted that we played until the bell went off._

_By the time we got to the school buildings I knew most people would be in class. And my prediction about the reaction to me was also correct. Everybody glanced up and I could see everybody's faces. Miley refused to look me in the eyes, Mitchie and Taylor were glaring at me, Shane just looked disappointed, the footballers just looked confused as they quickly found their seats and the rest of the class looked between Miley and me with interest. Great!_

_"Alright guys, quieten down! Miley, Mitchie and Taylor here are your timetables, I'm sorry I forgot to give them to you. We're off timetable again this afternoon because Mr Moorstone is taking your year's requirements very easily. Firstly we are going to get each and every one of you signed up for a minimum of one club or at least deciding between a few possibilities. Once we have everybody sorted we can relax until the break."_

_The class cheered at the prospect of not much work. As I looked around the class I realised that picking a club was going to be fairly easy. Most of the lads will join all the sports clubs and most of the girls will pick cheerleading. I can't help but wonder what Miley will do. She could dance or cheer if she wanted to but she doesn't seem like the confident type that happily flaunts their body. It's refreshing to meet a girl that doesn't want to._

_"You've got ten minutes to talk about it with your friends and decide what you want to do. Then I'll ask you all." Miss Hudgens called and signalled for us to move to sit with our friends._

_The next ten minutes were so boring as we all just chorused "Football!" and then talked about any old rubbish. I used the time to go off into dream world again and I could faintly hear Lucas talking to somebody about fit girls in our year._

_After the ten minutes were up Miss called people's names and they answered with their chosen clubs. All of the boys chose football as most of the football team are always put in one form. Out of the girls Lily and Alex decided on cheerleading/ dancing as they come together. Scarlett and Isabella joined the performing arts club. Holly and Claire are already members of the science and maths clubs. Annoyingly Miley, Taylor and Mitchie asked to let Miss know their decision at the endof the day. From what I could hear Taylor wanted them to do cheerleading/ dancing together while Miley and Mitchie wanted to do something like creative writing or performing arts. Out of the three I'm interested to see them in cheerleading/ dancing._

_The lesson dragged on even more as Shane wandered off to the girls and the boys just started talking about parties, girls and football again. Yeah, that kind of conversation is interesting sometimes. But trust me you soon get tired of hearing the same old thing daily. Lucas seemed to notice there was something up because he isolated himself from the group to sit with me and was trying to get it out of me but I refused to budge and in the end satisfied him with promising to tell him at the end of the day._

_Soon enough the bell went for the short break before a final two lessons. I decided to go back to my room for a bit to get some peace but that wish was shattered when Lucas came with me. It doesn't take a genius to know why. Sure enough as soon as we were in the privacy of our room he started shooting the questions at me._

_"Soooo, what's up?"_

_"Honestly it's not much. Just Miley. I stopped back to talk to her at lunch but it turned into her shouting at me." I explained_

_"Whoa! She seriously shouted? Dude, it's just a guess but I don't think she's your biggest fan."_

_"Way to state the obvious man."_

_"I'm only trying to help. Don't let her get to you Nate. I know it probably doesn't solve the problem but there's tons of girls that drool over you."_

_"Yeah, you're right… IT DOESN'T HELP WITH THE PROBLEM! Miley's the girl I've got to work with and she hates me. What makes it worse is it's my fault! I deserve it."_

_"Um I'm going to leave you alone to think. Just to let you know I'm here for you whatever, I know I haven't been nice to Miley either but if you're going to try to get on with her for the project I'll do it with you. And maybe you should just try the simple way. Say sorry. Give her flowers. Don't make excuses like you probably have done." Lucas advised with a grin and walked out the door._

_Well I for one didn't know he could be so sensible or deep. I laughed to myself and walked back to the classroom. Lucas had definitely helped. I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I know one of my friends will support my whatever my decision is and I am starting to form a plan to get Miley to give me a chance. After all, I've decided to work with her and do the decent thing. Now I just need to make sure we work well._

_A smile crept onto my face at the though of my strategy to win Miley's approval, earning me some confused looks from people walking into the room._

_"Hey guys, everyone here?" Miss Hudgens asked while glancing around the room, "Okay good. I've just been informed that juniors have the next two periods off to join up with their project partners to bond and get to know each other so that they will work well together. Please guys we're trusting you to act responsibly and actually do what is asked of you – not use the time to goof off with your friends."_

_Oh man this spells disaster!_

* * *

**AN: I am SO SO sorry! I completely forgot to update! What with my dance show and my last week of school and getting ready for Christmas it slipped my mind. But thank you all so much for the reviews! **

**I want you guys to decide what club/ clubs Taylor, Miley and Mitchie join but i do want them all in one together :) So tell me in a review what you want them to decide!! I have got tomorrow as a relaxing day so please review and you may just get a new chapter VERY soon :D **

**Review replies:**

**terzo - **thank youuu :) here's the chapter. i hope you're getting more readers - GUYS READ HER STUFF!!

**niley2009 - **them working together will come very soon & I'll try not to disappoint!

**JazzyxNileyxFizzle - **haha feel bad for them both :P and thank youu for all your reviews.

**kiisuke379 - **don't worry you are going to see Niley developing as a friendship (and maybe more ;] ) and i don't need amazing reviews just a loved it, update soon would be just as great :D

**niley16 - **aw i hope you're feeling better now. this update is officially for you. I'll right it at the top right now. Wait you'll have already seen it. Okay then - this explains the dedication to you :P

**Niley23 Alex - **here's the update. and thank you so much, you ALWAYS review me! :)

**3 - **thank you so much. & here's more Nate's P.O.V

**NikkyJonas - **thank you. haha you picked up on the stubbornness! and thank you for the good luck in my exams - i got straight A's and an A* in English :D only bad one is D in ICT because my teacher basically said if i fail he doesn't mind :P

**Modena - **hope Miley's reaction didn't disappoint, and i hope you enjoyed this chapter. tell me what you want to see next chapter!!

**ganda87 - **thank you for the suggestion i really appreciate it. i've had Nate as jealous earlier on but only a bit - he's going to get a lot more jealous and possessive when the storyline develops.

**Sarah - **thank you so much, that's really nice but somehow i doubt it - there's some amazing writers on here!

_Right it's time to say goodbye and goodnight because my Mum is going to go crazy at me soon for still being up, especially because i smashed one of her new mugs today :S_

_Hope you liked it :)_


	9. Chapter 8 One More Chance

_Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 8_

**_For loveiscoming as i promised her an update on this when she updated hers - so here you go. Sorry if it dissapoints :(_**

_AN: continued straight off from the last chapter (Y)_

_Nate's P.O.V:_

_I decided to be brave and face my fear of Miley confirming that she hates my guts. God I sound so formal, guess that's what nerves do to you. I swivelled round in my chair to grab her attention but met unusually cold eyes as she sighed and banged her head down on the table to release her obvious frustration. I forced my eyes to look in another direction and tried to ignore the heart-wrenching regret. _

_Have you ever finally discovered that somebody is important to you and then realised that it's too late to turn back time and change things? Yeah, it's not a nice feeling. In fact it makes you a nervous wreck and you can feel your body rapidly transforming into jelly but you're too busy to fight it. But maybe that's just me._

_Mitchie and Taylor immediately broke away from their happy dances with Shane and Jake, clearly feeling incredibly guilty to get to work with people their friends and have fun on the project while Miley is stuck in her own little nightmare. Just one more thing to add to the "Nate's fault" list. _

_I know that I can't blame anybody else for the situation because I've just made things a whole lot worse than they ever needed to be: I tried to swap partners to save us both any hassle and I just offended Miley, then tried to talk it out with her but it just ended up in an argument and now I want to try and make amends but Miley's response isn't exactly the most reassuring sign a girl could give. Plus another wave of disappointment falls upon me as after each failed attempt at comforting Miley, Mitchie and Taylor fiercely glare at the source of the problem - me. I know I don't deserve to indulge myself in self-pity but I can't help but feel gutted. _

_Shane must have noticed my distressed expression because he quickly glanced from a visibly upset Miley to me, slouching in my chair miserably. After choosing the best thing to do in his head he walked over to my desk with a determined face and knelt down next to me._

_"Nate did you really imagine her jumping for joy and screaming with excitement at the news of spending the afternoon with you? Because if you did then you're more deluded than I once thought. I haven't got a clue exactly what went down at lunch because she wasn't willing to go into specific details but whatever happened really upset her." Shane said quietly._

_"I know Shane and I feel like rubbish over it all. I've not been able to think straight – Miley's just been running through my mind all lunch and it's impossible to get her out of my thoughts. I'd even decided to try and make it up to her. But I'm not so sure that's possible anymore." I whisper shouted, becoming slightly irritated at him completely siding with Miley without giving me a second thought. _

_He looked behind his back anxiously at the girls and whispered, "Calm down, okay? Making another scene isn't going to win you any favours. And I haven't even done anything wrong – you've done that all by yourself."_

_"Well why don't you just go and run off to your best mates then and just ignore your brother like you usually do. You can't even talk to me now without looking to them for approval even though we're related." I exclaimed._

_"Shh!" Shane whispered uneasily, "Yes maybe I haven't been fair on you but in my defence you haven't exactly given me a chance to be supportive of you. But I do want to help you and if you are serious about apologising to Miley then I'm with you." _

_"Of course I'm serious about sorting things. I've been beating myself up about the way I've handled things all day. All I can see is Miley's face when I asked Miss Hudgens to swap and when she shouted at me. And it's killing me. I just don't know what to do for the best." I groaned, tugging on my curls with exasperation._

_"Nate I'm here to help you. I'm one of Miley's best friends so I know her inside out. I can help you to convince her that you're genuinely regretting being such a conceited jerk."_

_"Whoa dude there's no need to go as far as insulting me. Even if it is true." I laughed and punched him softly on the arm._

_"Shut up and listen fro bro," Shane laughed with me and ruffled my hair, "I'll go talk to Miley and convince her to go with you. Then afterwards we'll all meet up for ice cream, I promised the girls some anyway. Hanging out in a group might help – you got on well last night, I saw everything." He winked and shot me a look to tell me that I cannot hide anything from him._

_"Okay then. And thanks man, for helping me even though I've been a pain over the past few months. I've missed you." I smiled thankfully at him as he walked away to talk to Miley. He pulled a funny face and gave me a thumbs up in return. Typical Shane I thought, glad to finally be back on good terms with him. Even if he is going to quiz me later on._

_Shane's P.O.V:_

_I walked away feeling shocked but incredibly happy at having a real conversation with Nate for the first time in months. _

_I was starting to lose faith in Nate ever seeing what an idiot he was playing. Because that's what he's been doing since we arrived at Hartbridge – acting. He was never shallow and horrible; he used to be thoughtful and sensitive. It's undeniable that he's extremely talented at football but it was never a problem because he was never cocky or obsessed - he was crazier about music. And more importantly he was never concerned with popularity and he never mistreated or disrespected girls. _

_Then he got his heart torn out and stamped on until it snapped into tiny pieces, almost beyond repair._

_He wanted to forget everything and move on but he did it the wrong way and completely changed. But I'm not going to even think about the past – bringing everything up wouldn't be worth Nate turning into the scary mess he was in the summer before boarding school. The look in his eyes haunted me every time I saw him. I was so thankful when he started interacting with people again even if he wasn't a very nice person._

_Nobody knows about Nate's history. Mitchie, Taylor and Miley might be more understanding if they did but I'm not going to betray Nate's trust like that – if he ever wants them to know he will choose the tell them. _

_Me? I'm just glad that there is a glimmer of a chance that I could be getting my fun-loving and kind brother back. I owe Miley a huge thank you because something tells me that she's responsible for his sudden change of heart._

_As I walked up to Miley I held my breath in anticipation. Truthfully, I think it's going to be incredibly tricky to get the result that I'm hoping for. But after witnessing the desperation in Nate's face I need to at least try._

_"Shane what the hell was all that about? Acting friendly with Nate as if nothing is wrong when Miley is in this state!" Mitchie glared._

_"Mitchie he's my brother and he's in just as much of a mess. Don't tell me that I can't talk to him because he's my family and he's important to me no matter what he does." I shot back. _

_"Guys please don't argue. It's up to Miley what she does not you two." Taylor concluded calmly._

_"Ugh!" Mitchie cried and turned her back on me with her arms folded._

_"Well I don't really appreciate somebody commanding me to do something unreasonable!" I exclaimed._

_"Come on you two – Taylor's completely right. You two are letting something that doesn't even concern you come between you're friendship. And that's not okay with me. I'll go with Nate today because I have to anyway and because I'm willing to hear what he has to say. Please don't try and persuade me that I'm doing the wrong thing Mitchie because it may not be the easiest answer but that doesn't mean that it isn't the right thing to do." Miley explained._

_Mitchie sighed with defeat. "I won't argue with you about it because you're right and even if you weren't I can see that you've made your mind up. Just be careful Miles, I will be there to pick up the pieces because I love you but I don't want to see you hurt that much."_

_"You're such a worrier Mitchie. It's just 2 hours on a school project." Taylor giggled and pulled us all into a group hug. Mitchie looked at me harshly to suggest that she still wasn't thrilled with me but I just shrugged it off and turned to Miley. _

_"Well we best get going with our partners. Miles, I'm glad you're giving Nate a chance. I honestly believe that he wants to stop being the person he's been recently." I said._

_"S'okay Shane. But please don't blame me if he comes back with a black eye or something." Miley grinned._

_"Ooh before I forget we're meeting up afterwards for ice cream like I promised. See you then!" I called to her as she walked off with an extremely happy Nate._

_I looked behind me at Taylor and smiled to myself. I'm really looking forward to working with her for this project. We get on like a house on fire and she's a great girl that can always put a smile on my face or make me crack up in hysterics with just a few words. We just automatically clicked when we first met and now we're best friends. Miley and Mitchie are determined that we have secret feelings for each other and I always used to laugh them off and argue back that Taylor and me should be allowed to be friends in peace. But lately I'm just starting to feel like maybe they're right. Over the summer everything I did I always thought that Taylor should be there to do it with me and as soon as the beginning of the term approached I became jittery at the thought of seeing Taylor again. And then when Nate was a jerk about the three of them I felt protective and outraged that he could say that about such beautiful and unique girls – especially Taylor. Last night at the group meal she looked so effortlessly beautiful and we had an amazing time. I couldn't help myself from wish that we got a chance to do it again just the two of us. _

_Other people might not see her as perfect – but I do. She's perfect for me. I'm just scared to admit it to her incase she doesn't feel the same. She's always denied having feelings for me to Miley and Mitchie – what are the chances of her just being embarrassed like me? Not likely. _

_"So, you ready to go hot shot?" Taylor teased as she used all her strength to push me out of the classroom_

_"Sure. I'll even let you choose where we go to prove my true gentleman ways." I winked._

_"To the grass!" Taylor squealed and began to run in that direction, grabbing my hand to pull me along._

_"You're such a dork." I laughed at her and broke away from her, sprinting to a sunny spot and collapsing down in a heap._

_"And you're a big meanie." Taylor pouted as she plonked herself down beside me and stuck her tongue out at me, pretending to be angry._

_"Aww come on Taylor don't be like that. Mitchie's already irritated with me because I encouraged Miley to give Nate a chance this afternoon. You're my best bud! Pweeease Tay!" I begged, sitting up and turning to her with my puppy eyes._

_"You had to use the puppy eyes! Fine, you're forgiven. Anyways, let's get on with the project. It's going to be so amazing if we work hard on it. What do you want to do first?" Taylor babbled, immediately being swept away in the excitement._

_"Well we don't really need to bond, so how about we think of some ideas to write a song about? Get a head start and all that." I suggested._

_"Great idea! Well there's always friendship, our future or life in general. I would say love but that might be awkward for two friends. We could always write it on one of our past experiences?" Taylor suggested._

_"Yeah, that would be good. Then we would be able to relate to the song. Maybe we should just chill out and think and then when we meet up next just write what pops into our minds."_

_"Yeah, that'd be cool. What do our voices suit more? A ballad style song or a more up tempo song?" Taylor asked._

_"Umm I'll do either, just see where the song takes us. You thinking of anything in particular?" _

_"I don't know – my minds gone blank!" Taylor whined, "This is so unfair. Whenever I'm sat bored I always think of great ideas but now I've got nothing."_

_Her face crumpled up in deep concentration and I could see her chewing on her lip thoughtfully._

_"You got any paper?" she asked and got a pencil out of her bag._

_I wordlessly handed her my notepad and lay down on the grass. I know that seems a bit weird to just let her do the work but I know Taylor likes peace and quiet when she's in the process of writing a song and I know she'll be happy with the silence as she records all her brilliant ideas._

_I closed my eyes and listened to her scribbling furiously on the paper with the occasional sigh of irritation or a happy squeal when she found some inspiration. After awhile she put the notepad, filled with her messy handwriting, to one side and turned to me._

_"Shane? You haven't fallen asleep on me have you? I've brainstormed some ideas. They're all love songs but you know me – a hopeless romantic." She said happily as I opened my eyes and picked the notepad up off the grass._

_"Well then fate has spoken – we're writing a love song. Do you mind if I take this with me and read it later and maybe add a few of my own ideas?" I asked._

_"Sure, I'm guessing you're planning on having a night in with just your mind and your guitar?" Taylor giggled as she guessed correctly straight away. _

_"You know me too well." I laughed and pulled her to her feet._

_"Where are we going now? We've got ages to go until the school day ends haven't we?" Taylor asked, a small frown forming on her face._

_"Umm no actually the school day officially ends in about… five minutes." I told her as I glanced at my watch._

_"Oh. Well let's go get a table at the ice cream shop and wait for the others. I can't believe the times gone by so quickly." She said as she tugged on my arm to follow her._

_Miley's P.O.V:_

_I shyly sat down on the wooden decking by the lake, letting my feet hang down into the cool water and looked up to Nate with a hopeful smile to try and break the tension. He seemed incredibly nervous as he sat down next to me in exactly the same position._

_"Soooo." I said to break the awkward silence._

_"Umm Miley I just want to say I'm so sorry for acting like a jerk ever since I met you and especially today. I shouldn't have been an idiot with you because I was scared of what other people might think. You seem like an amazing girl and last night I had a great time and for once I let loose and acted on impulse, one of the best decisions I've ever made. I know I screwed up my second chance as soon as I was given it but I really hope you'll consider giving me a third chance, even though I don't deserve it." Nate said as he turned to face me and took hold of my hands._

_"Wow." I breathed, unable to say anything more straight away._

_Nate must have taken this as a bad response as he swiftly let go of me and jumped to his feet and anxiously ran his hand through his hair before sighing loudly._

_Him letting go of my hands disappointed me more than it should, our hands fit together perfectly and I felt butterflies when he touched me. I pushed the jittery feeling to one side as he began to speak again._

_"I understand if you don't want to. We can just take certain parts of the song to write separately I guess and then just practise together and smooth anything out. You wouldn't have to put up with me much and we'd go with whatever you want." He babbled, looking even more nervous if that was possible._

_I'd never ever seen this side of Nate. I'd seen him as cocky, mean, angry and even upset but never nervous and slightly vulnerable. Everything about his apology screamed that he was truly sorry. Seeing him beside me desperately wanting my forgiveness I knew that even though people might consider me silly for giving him a chance to make it up to me, I could never refuse him. Because I'm falling for him and that's why my heart breaks every time he hurts me. But here I am giving him an opportunity to crush me once again. Only this time I believe him when he says he won't._

_"Nate of course I forgive you." I whispered gently, standing up next to him with a soft smile. _

_"Really? Thank you so much! I promise I won't make you regret this." Nate smiled widely and captured me in a friendly hug. _

_"I'll hold you to that." I grinned and pulled him back down to sit on the decking._

_"That's good then, and you have my permission to tell me as soon as I'm showing any signs of becoming that monster again." He replied_

_I laughed loudly at him and stared down at my lap to form a comfortable and happy silence, the complete opposite to when we first arrived at the lake._

_When I looked back up at him he was staring intently at me. I could my cheeks blushing a deep read._

_"What?" I muttered awkwardly._

_"I was just looking at you. I've never really noticed how naturally pretty you are. And I love you're laugh – you're so easy to be around." He admitted and looked down, clearly embarrassed at his honesty._

_"Thank you – you're not so bad yourself! And you're surprisingly very fun to hang out with too." I answered, causing him to blush._

_Wow, I thought to myself. I never thought I'd see the day that me and Nate were enjoying spending time just the two of us and I definitely never imagined I'd have the confidence to joke around with him and even make him blush._

_"Well that's a good thing because it looks like we're going to be spending a lot more time together for the project. Do you like to sing or play instruments? And I know this might be private and personal but do you write any songs?" Nate asked, getting on with what we were supposed to be doing. _

_"Umm yeah I play the guitar and the piano but mostly when I'm back at home. I don't sing much, I'm not really a girl that enjoys being centre of attention, but people say I have a nice voice. I do write songs but I've never really shown anybody but my Dad and Mitchie because she came round in the summer and found it. Unfortunately she also insisted that I sing one for her. How about you?" I laughed, remembering the week she came to stay._

_"Well this may be a surprise for you but I love music – I play the piano, drums and guitar and I love to sing. And yeah, I write my songs. Maybe sometime I'll show you some. I'd really like to see yours." _

_"I might just do that if you stay as nice as this." I promised._

_For some strange reason Nate and me just seemed to get on without any effort and there was no problem finding things to talk about. Miss Hudgens wanted us to bond with our partners and we had succeeded at that. We talked about everything possible and time seemed to fly by as we laughed together and discovered more about each other._

_"Seriously? Shane really dressed up as a girl for the day just for you to forgive him for getting drunk and dancing with a girl you liked?" I giggled as I imagined Shane in a dress and make-up._

_"Yes! I really liked that girl. She was my crush for over a year." Nate defended himself, trying not to laugh. "But don't tell him I told you – I don't really want to hide in my room all my life."_

_"I promise I won't tell him. But I can't promise that I won't enjoy revealing this secret to Taylor and Mitchie." I smiled mischievously._

_Suddenly my phone started playing One Time by Justin Bieber and I saw Mitchie's photo flashing on my screen._

_"Umm one second, Mitchie's calling." I smiled apologetically and quickly stood up and walked away to the trees nearby. Something told me Nate wouldn't want to hear Mitchie's opinion on our truce._

_However I did still hear him mutter "Probably checking that we haven't killed one another yet."_

_I turned around before pressing accept and joked, "Oh I've just managed to resist. Wouldn't want Shane to have no brother to make him suffer." _

_"Miley!! Thank god you've answered. We've been worried sick. It's like 5pm. We've been waiting for over half an hour for you two! Do you realise that we've all been thinking what if they've got into a huge argument or there's been an accident? Where are you?!" Mitchie screeched down the phone._

_"Ouch!! My ears are delicate you know Mitch! We're just at the lake and we're both fine – no accidents and no fights. Sorry we just forgot that we were meeting you and we didn't even think to look at the time. We'll come back now." I said calmly._

_"Miley are you being serious? You and Nate have spent 2 hours together with no arguments? Wow." Mitchie laughed._

_"Yes Mitchie shocker of the year, Nate Grey and Miley Stewart are getting along." I said, sarcasm clearly showing in the tone of my voice._

_Nate snickered._

_"Tell Nate I heard that! Now get yourselves to the ice cream store like, NOW!" Mitchie shouted down the phone and hung up straight after._

_"She says she heard you laughing. And she was just calling to remind us that we're meeting at the ice cream parlour at 4.10pm. What's the time now?" I asked casually, watching him amused and waiting for him to react._

_"Crap it's ten minutes to five. Did she not tell you we're INCREDIBLY LATE?" Nate cried and I burst into a fit of laughter._

_"Of course she did. I just wanted to see you panic." I managed to gasp as I held my sides from laughing too much._

_"That's so not funny Mi!" he pouted and began to walk ahead._

_I got butterflies in my stomach at his nickname and a huge smile formed on my face. _

_"Nate! Aw don't be mad, I'm sorry. I'll buy your ice cream to make it up to you." I pleaded as I caught up with him and stood in front of him to stop him from moving._

_"Money can't buy people Miley." Nick stated trying to keep a straight face. I knew he'd soon give in though._

_"Maybe not. But it can buy an incredibly nice ice cream. It would be an awful shame for it to be wasted." I sighed._

_"Fine, you're forgiven. But only because I don't want an angry Mitchie on the phone again. And I'll have strawberry ice cream in a cone with chocolate sauce." He grinned and grabbed my hand to walk with me._

_Once again, I couldn't escape the sparks that I felt at the contact._

_To my surprise Nate didn't let go of my hand when we got to where everybody else was happily digging into their ice creams. Instead he gripped onto my hand even tighter and smiled at me encouragingly, letting me know that he wasn't going to be ashamed of being my friend and that he wouldn't hide it from his friends._

_I pulled him up to the counter instead of heading over to them and I ordered a strawberry ice cream cone with chocolate sauce for him and a vanilla ice cream cone with strawberry sauce for me._

_"You're boring." Nate teased._

_"Pfft. Vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce is delicious! But you're not cool enough for it." I retorted._

_"Is that so?" Nate smirked, "Then I'll have to do this."_

_I squealed loudly as he grabbed me so I couldn't run away, leant down and licked my ice cream with a victorious smile._

_"Well that's unfair. Now I get to choose what we write our song about!" _

_"Deal. I'm not much of a decision maker anyway." Nate agreed as we headed over to the table._

_Taylor's P.O.V:_

_I watched Miley and Nate silently as they entered the parlour holding hands and laughing about something. I nudged Shane gently and whispered "Hey, look at your brother and Miley."_

_His eyes widened with surprise at the sight of them talking and being friendly and I saw his jaw drop when he saw them joking around and Nate stealing Miley's ice cream. They were acting like… boyfriend and girlfriend._

_"Hey guys. Sorry we're late, we kind of just forgot about everything." Nate apologised and sat down next to Shane while Miley chose to sit with Mitchie as a silent apology for making her worried._

_"It's fine. It's not like Taylor and me got here early to save us all a table or anything." Shane joked and soon him and Nate were absorbed in a conversation._

_I smiled to myself at them and their light-hearted joking. Shane had always missed not being close to Nate. I always noticed his sad smile every time Nate was mean to Mitchie, Miley and Me. Then afterwards when Mitchie would moan about him I could always see the same look in Shane's eyes. He wanted to defend his brother and be there for him but he knew he couldn't._

_Shane laughed loudly at something Nate had said. I can't help but be happy whenever I see he is happy. I've fallen for my best friend and there's nothing I can do about it. What makes it worse is he has no clue and somebody like him would never love me. When we were sat there thinking about love songs to write all I wanted to do was blurt out that I could relate to being in love with your best friend. At least then the secret would be out and I would never be wondering what if._

_"Tay you're daydreaming." Miley giggled and waved her hand in front of my face, "Come and sit with us. Mitchie's still not forgiven me for forgetting to be here."_

_"Miley I don't think you realise how worried I actually was! You were so desperate to get out of going with Nate that it didn't even cross my mind that you'd be with him! And then you two walk in here like best friends!" Mitchie whisper shouted._

_"Mitchie come on don't be like that. He apologised and he really meant it, if you were there to see the look on his face you wouldn't have any doubts right now. I told him I'd give him another chance and it turns out that we get on really well. I want you to be happy for me. This is great – now I can work on this project without being miserable and have some fun!" Miley explained._

_"I'm gonna forgive you – you're my best friend. But I would have liked a text or anything to let me know you were okay." Mitchie gave in with a small smile._

_"That was a pathetic smile! Miles, you know what to do." I winked and both Miley and me pounced on Mitchie and started tickling her._

_"Guys!"_

_"Stop!"_

_"Please!"_

_Mitchie gasped between her hysterics until we finally gave in and stopped._

_"You two are INCREDIBLY mean. So it's a good job that I love you so much and I'm willing to overlook this and forgive my best friends." Mitchie laughed._

_"Awww, we love you too Mitch!" Miley and me chorused and pulled her into a group hug. Sure enough Shane, Nate and Jake soon joined in and we were getting some very weird looks from people sitting on the other tables._

_"As much as we'd love to stay in this hug, us guys are off. We've got a football meeting at seven so we've got to get tea early." Shane groaned and pulled the other two boys away._

_Nate suddenly turned around and shouted "Bye Miles. I'll text you later." _

_Mitchie and me turned to Miley who was blushing like crazy with the biggest smile possible covering her face._

_"To our room. Miley has some gossip to spill." Mitchie grinned evilly and I laughed at Miley's groans, "And you Taylor – your smile at the ice cream parlour clearly shows that you have something you hiding." _

_"Well that's not fair! You can talk to us about your crush on Chad then." Miley decided and stuck her tongue out at Mitchie, running up to our room with Mitchie and me right behind her._

_My best friends, I wouldn't change them for the world I thought as I slammed the bedroom door behind me and flopped down on my bed ready for a very interesting talk with Mitchie and Miley._

* * *

**AN: I'm so sorry for the crappy ending but i'm getting super tired after a lack of sleep over the past few days and i'm not very well. And i'm so bummed that i'm not feeling Christmassy (n)**

**I know i've said it before but i'd really appreciate it if you go and read terzo's stories and REVIEW them for me. She's not getting reviews and i would really like it if people support her. Think of it as a Fanfiction Christmas present to me. If she tells me shes been getting hits, favourites or most importantly REVIEWS i may even update because i'll be that pleased!**

**Also if you're looking for a great and entertaining story to read check out _loveiscoming. _i really liked her story :D**

**Lastly before i do some review replies I want you guys to have a say in the songs they sing for the talent show and i need to be thinking of that now because obviously very soon i'm going to have them 'writing' the songs :L**

**So tell me what you'd like Miley and Nate, Shane and Taylor, Jake and Mitchie and Lucas and Alex to sing :) I am most likely going to be using their songs and not others unless there is an amazingly suitable one that anyone thinks of!**

**Everybody have an amazing Winter Holidays :D  
And don't forget to review or alert me as a little Christmas gift ;)**

**_Review replies:_**

_finding my wonderland - _thank you so much and the way you see it was exactly how i want you to see it :P

_loveiscoming - _thank youuu. and i did read your story and it's very good! i thought it was really freaky how both our updates show Nate becoming less of a jerk. i wrote that part last night and then this morning i read yours and was like whoaa snap :D

_Pinkberryx3 - _and they might just join that club ;) hope you liked this chapter!

_Only me! :) - _the next one is now :D and i'm not quitting - i couldn't quit on such great reviewers! and thank you x

_JazzyxNileyxFizzle - _thank you for your review - i love seeing your name on a review email every time i update and i always look forward to what you have to say so thanks a lot :D

_terzo - _thank youu :)

_Niley23 Alex - _thank you for this review and every other review it means a lot. & you may just get the club that you want next chapter :D

_WeAreLoveStory - _haha i loved your idea so watch out for it in an upcoming chapter!

_kiisuke379 - _thank you and i will always try to update soon :)

_niley16 - _i'm glad you're feeling better and thanks for the great review!

_NikkyJonas - _thank you for your hyper review! it made me feel better after getting an incredibly bad cold. hope this chapter didn't dissapoint though as i'm sure it isn't as good as my other chapters :(


	10. Chapter 9 Spill The Beans

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 9**_

_**Read the A/N at the end – it's important :]**_

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_**I flung myself on the floor with Mitchie and Taylor and put the marshmallows, popcorn and jellybeans in the middle of the circle.**_

_**"Miley you know me too well." Taylor giggled as she immediately reached out for the marshmallows.**_

_**"Taylor we're not here to stuff our faces with food. We're here for a good catch up on the gossip that we have selfishly kept to ourselves." Mitchie said with a glare in my direction. **_

_**"Mitchie there was nothing to spill until now, and I'll tell you every little detail if that means you'll forgive me. And I even got toffee popcorn especially for you." I grinned hopefully.**_

_**"Fine! You're forgiven. But Taylor you've got some serious talking to do. Because as far as I can see you have not brought any food to bribe me to take it easy on you."**_

_**"Ummm… marshmallows?" Taylor asked nervously and pushed the packet in Mitchie's direction.**_

_**"Nope, marshmallows are not a worthy opponent for Miley's toffee popcorn." Mitchie laughed as Taylor shrugged and popped another marshmallow into her mouth.**_

_**"Mitchie you cannot expect us to forget you," I smirked "You obviously fancy the pants off Chad. There is definitely something going on between you and Joe, Tay. And I've made friends with my enemy and not filled you guys in. So let's quit the silly talk and spill the beans!"**_

_**"Agreed. Who first?" Taylor asked.**_

_**"Miley!" Mitchie volunteered and flashed me a cute smile.**_

_**"Fine, but I'm going to need a jelly bean first." I groaned and tried to open the packet. Unfortunately the packet ripped and the jellybeans burst out and rolled around on the floor.**_

_**"Wow Miles, you really meant it when you said spill the beans." Taylor exclaimed and immediately burst into a fit of laughter.**_

_**Sure enough Mitchie joined in and the two of them were rolling on the floor in hysterics, and crying with laughter. **_

_**I frowned at them and crossed my arms defiantly to show them that I didn't think it was funny. I looked down at the jellybeans spinning on the floor and I couldn't stop a smile creeping onto my face. **_

_**"Miles, I'm sorry but it was so funny. It was like a jellybeans explosion and then they were everywhere and you're face just tipped us over the edge." **_

_**"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it was hilarious. But can we please get back to the important topic of our lives." I said as I stuck my tongue out at her.**_

_**"Okay. But you've got to go first still. My sides ache from all the laughing." Taylor whined.**_

_**"And we want to know everything. Start from you're argument at lunch."**_

_**I thought back to my first day at Hartbridge. I can clearly remember hugging my Dad goodbye and nervously approaching the school reception. I was already a week late – I'd convinced Dad to let me stay at home for an extra week because I wasn't ready to leave home and my family. My mum died when I was three and I had already decided that I wanted to stay in my hometown as a permanent reminder of her. I tried to remember the first time I bumped into Nate Grey.**_

_**My dad had just left and I was walking up to the school reception – where Taylor and Mitchie were waiting to show me around and make me feel welcome. Just before I got there was when I bumped into Nate. You'd have to be blind not to notice that he was good-looking. I can imagine what I must have looked like to him. I was wearing my torn jeans and my mum's old jumper for comfort. I didn't realise but I was crying – I had started as soon as my Dad left. I wasn't really paying attention to Nate so I just mumbled a sorry and walked away. The next time he saw me has was rude and mean. He never really paid me any attention until recently.**_

_**"The argument was a nightmare. After we walked away from you I just asked him what was the matter. He seemed really uncomfortable and nervous so I just told him to spit it out already and I guessed right that it was about the talent show. He tried to excuse him asking for a different partner in front of everyone and he said he thought it would be better for everyone. When he asked me what we were going to do I got a bit pissed off and told him that we were just going to get on with it. But he wouldn't accept it and he said that he wouldn't go on stage with me because I was a loser. So I got really angry and told him exactly what I thought of him. That's when Mitchie arrived and I calmed down and walked away." I explained.**_

_**"I get it now. But seriously Miles you scared us all. We were expecting Nate to be the one shouting but then we heard you screaming at him. Not that I blame you for it. I actually think it's great that you stood up to him." Taylor giggled.**_

_**"Carry on Miles. I want to get to the good bit." Mitchie exclaimed.**_

_**"Well I just thought that we'd both cool off and then we'd have to just try our best to work together. But then Miss announced that we had to get into our teams and bond. That couldn't have come at a worse time. The last person I wanted to face was Nate. Then Shane came up to us after talking to Nate and he argued with you, Mitchie. That's when I knew that I had to go with Nate and try and work it out. The situation was even starting to tear our group apart and so I decided that if I could just be on okay terms with Nate then things would be fine. And Shane seemed like he really thought Nate was genuinely feeling guilty."**_

_**Mitchie shifted awkwardly at the argument. "I'm really sorry that I started the fight with Shane. It just made things more stressful." **_

_**"Mitch I think you should talk to Shane about it and say sorry or whatever. When he was with me he seemed really upset about it. He just wants to help his brother. Do you not think that if Shane's there for him he might be less of a jerk? And Miley seems to bring out a completely different Nate." Taylor interrupted.**_

_**"Yeah, I guess. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Anyways back to Miley – what happened when you went with Nate?"**_

_**"It was really awkward at first. But then he said sorry and I could just tell that he meant it. I told him he was forgiven. After that we just seemed to get on like a house on fire. We found out that we had a lot in common and he even complimented me. It was just easy to relax and be myself with me and we had fun. He was showing the side of Nate that I saw at the meal. Then Mitchie called and we came to meet you all."**_

_**"Yeah and you gave us a huge surprise. You walked up holding hands and laughing. You looked like boyfriend and girlfriend, not ex-enemies that had decided to give each other a chance. And what do you mean by the Nate at the meal? I didn't notice you talking." Taylor asked looking slightly confused.**_

_**"Haha you may not have noticed anything but I did. Nate and Miley were texting each other across the table. And I could see by their smiles that they were getting on well. Like you said about them when they turned up for ice-cream, they looked in love." Mitchie smirked.**_

_**"Me and Nate are not in love! We're friends. Even that's entirely new for us. We're getting on and that's all I can ask for." I insisted, blushingly slightly. Thinking back, our behaviour would look like two people who had crushes on each other.**_

_**"So you're telling me that you don't find Nate attractive at all. And you don't fancy him one bit?" Mitchie asked curiously.**_

_**"Mitch I'm not going to be stupid and deny that he's attractive. He's extremely gorgeous. And I enjoy spending time with him. But that's it. I'm not falling in love with him. I'm the shy geeky girl and he's the popular jock. We don't fit together."**_

_**Taylor's P.O.V:**_

_**I could see Miley starting to get uncomfortable with the questions Mitchie was throwing at her. Yes, I want to know what's running through her mind right now but unlike Mitchie I'm not going to keep quizzing her – I'll wait until she wants somebody to talk to. There's definitely something going on between her and Nate though. The way he looked at her sometimes back at the ice-cream parlour and the way she smiled at him tells me that there's potential there. Plus they've got to spend a lot of time together – the more time they're given to get to know one another the harder they're going to fall in love. Just like I have with Shane.**_

_**"Guys I think I love Shane." I blurted out, partly because I needed to get it off my chest and partly to save Miley from the spotlight.**_

_**Miley's jaw dropped in shock and her eyes widened. She quickly recovered herself and smiled thankfully at me, as if to say that she knew I'd said that to help her.**_

_**"Whoa. Now that's something I didn't expect." Mitchie said slowly.**_

_**"It's just every time I see him I can't help but wish that we were more than friends and he always make me feel so special. It hurts to know that he has no clue and if he did he wouldn't feel the same way. And I'm not sure if I can hide my feelings anymore – there's nothing I want more than to tell him I love him." I explained.**_

_**Truthfully I'm relieved to finally have my best friends to talk to about it and it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm kind of scared that Mitchie's going to go into her freaky matchmaker mode but I'm glad that Miley's not in the dark anymore. She's so easy to talk to as she'll just sit and listen; only volunteering any advice at the right points. She's not so forward as Mitchie and I feel like she tells me what she thinks is the best option but it's still 100% my decision.**_

_**"You should tell him Tay. He likes you too, I can see it in his eyes." Miley said after taking the information in.**_

_**"I completely agree with Miley. You two have been denying your feelings since the day you met!" Mitchie added.**_

_**"I'm just not sure. He's one of my best friends and I don't want to ruin things or make it awkward when we hang out as a group. Maybe it would be better if I just ignore my feelings and carry on as just friends – things are fine as they are." I sighed miserably. **_

_**Mitchie sat up and jumped to her feet.**_

_**"Surely you can see how silly that idea is! You say things are fine as they are but the idea of not having a chance with Shane is obviously getting you down. So things aren't okay as they are. And if Shane can't see that you're made to be together then me and Miley will have to knock some sense into him."**_

_**I laughed cheerfully at the image of Miley and Mitchie dealing with Shane. Two petite girls as my personal hit men for a huge footballer would be funny to watch.**_

_**"Mitchie! I am not going to attack Shane!" Miley protested.**_

_**"Ugh! You're such a spoilsport. And we wouldn't anyway because we've forgotten one very important detail. Shane's in love with Taylor too – I've been trying to drum that into your head for months now." **_

_**"So you two think I should go for it and tell him how I feel?" I asked, hoping that they would turn around and tell me to wait for a bit. Fate obviously had other plans though.**_

_**"Definitely!" they chorused and squealed excitedly. **_

_**I wish I had their confidence. But it's not them that's going to ask out their best friend/ secret crush. And it's not them that are going to worry constantly about his answer for the next few hours. The one thing I know is that if I'm going to go through with it I've got to do it soon – before I persuade myself that I'm making a huge mistake.**_

_**"I think I'll tell him tomorrow after school – he's writing down some song ideas tonight so I'll ask if he wants to work on the project and then we'll be alone." I decided.**_

_**"Aww how romantic. But I wish I could be there to see Shane's face. I bet you he'll smile his goofy smile and you'll kiss and it'll be so sweet." Mitchie said and smiled excitedly at me.**_

_**"Shame about the detention we've got before you can go tell him though. But at least you can have a little pep talk off Mitchie**_

_**"Please don't embarrass us if he does feel the same way Mitch, I'll blush as bad as Miley usually does." I begged.**_

_**"Hey! I was going to help you out and keep Mitchie under control but now I might let her do whatever she wants! But now I've spilled my beans, completely, and Taylor has decided it's time to make her move with Shane it's time for Mitchie to tell us about her little crush." Miley exclaimed with one last regretful look at the jellybeans spread out over the floor.**_

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_**"Well now Miley's seen the funny side of being incapable of opening her sweets I'll begin. But it's not as important as Nate or Shane." I grumbled.**_

_**"Mitchie, that's so not true! There is totally something between you and Chad." Miley insisted and stuck her hands on her hips. "Carry on!"**_

_**"Okay Miss Bossy! But I can't talk if you keep interrupting me. Anyway, as you both know I met Chad at the meal last night and I had a lot of fun talking to him and we just seemed to click. But I didn't want to move too fast because I didn't want to look like an idiot if he didn't like me too and I knew that I needed to talk to you Miles. He was your ex-boyfriend and I would never even think twice about fancying a lad if it wasn't okay with you. So I pushed any thoughts of asking him out to the back of my mind and I focused on getting to know him and becoming his friend. But I was an idiot and I forget to get his number so I screwed any chances of meeting up with him." I explained and groaned at the thought of my failure that night.**_

_**Miley grinned wickedly. "You and Chad are as bad as each other. He spoke to me at the end for a few minutes and he's really into you, but he's totally shy. It took him three months to build up the courage to ask me out back home and I was his best friend at the time. But I was convinced that you liked him too so I told him not to give up on you and that you probably didn't want to push your luck. So he gave me his number to pass on to you when you finally talked to me about him. Want it?"**_

_**"Oh my god! Seriously? Of course I want it! I've got to text him like now!" I screamed and rushed over to Miley's purse from last night and smiled victoriously as I found a phone number wrote in Miley's swirly handwriting.**_

_**"Mitchie? I know you really like Chad and everything but try not to rub it in Jake's face. He's liked you for ages." Taylor warned me as I walked out of the room to call Chad.**_

_**I know Jake likes me a bit – Shane told me last year that he thought I was pretty. But I only like him as a close friend and he seems happy to be just that. He's actually seemed less keen to spend time with me lately and I think he might be starting to like other girls.**_

_**I dialled the number on the piece of paper and pressed call.**_

_**"Hello?"**_

_**"Hey, is that Chad?"**_

_**"Umm yeah. Who is this?"**_

_**"It's Mitchie, Miley's friend from the meal."**_

_**"Oh! Hey Mitchie, how's Hartbridge so far?"**_

_**"Terrible! Miley, Taylor and me all woke up late and missed half the lessons so now we've got detention all week" I groaned and I heard Chad chuckle quietly on the other end.**_

_**"That's a shame, I was hoping maybe we could meet up for a drink or something."**_

_**"I could manage a quick drink maybe. Depends whether the person I'm meeting is special and whether he's offering to pay." I joked.**_

_**"Well personally I think this guy is incredibly special, you'd be crazy to miss it. And I think he's just about willing to give you a treat."**_

_**"Then it's a deal. How about tomorrow at 5pm?" I suggested.**_

_**"Perfect – we'll go to Starbucks by the way. Anyway I've got to go my friends desperate to go practise some football. See you tomorrow."**_

_**"You play football? Cool, I'll get to see you when you play our school at least. Byeee! Oh and if I'm late don't leave – my detention will have run over."**_

_**"What kind of person manages to get a detention on the first day? You don't even do anything." He laughed.**_

_**"Oh us girls find a way. Anyway, I'll let you go and play football. See ya!" I laughed as I hung up and ran back in the room.**_

_**"I HAVE A DATE WITH CHAD!" I shouted.**_

_**"Oh my god! What are you going to wear? When is it? Wow!" Miley screamed as she jumped up and down with me.**_

_**"It's only Starbucks for a coffee tomorrow night but hey it's something and then maybe he'll ask me out on another more formal date." I said hopefully.**_

_**"Of course you will. You two are having all the boy drama! Taylor and Shane are so close to realising they're both in love with each other and now you've gone and gotten yourself a date with Chad! We have so got to go boy scouting for me." Miley moaned jokingly and flopped onto her bed.**_

_**The dinner bell went at that moment and I took great joy in quickly saying, "Oh but you've got Nate!" with a quick grin and then I sprinted to Shane's room to save myself from the wrath of a very angry Miley.**_

_**"Shane! Walk with me?" I managed to gasp as I skidded to a stop as he stepped out of his room.**_

_**"Do I even want to ask?"**_

_**"I wound Miley up and I didn't wait to see the reaction."**_

_**"Ohhh. Is Taylor with Miley? I've got some song ideas to show her, they're pretty good if I must say so myself."**_

_**"You're so big-headed. But that will have to wait until tomorrow; it's girlie night tonight. By the way I'm really sorry for what I said earlier. I was out of order – he's your brother and I shouldn't expect you not to talk to him."**_

_**"I'm sorry too – I can understand why you were angry with him. Miles is our best friend and we're all protective of her. It's just hard when the boy who was hurting her is your brother. I couldn't turn my back on him." Shane explained and nudged me playfully as a sign that we were back to our normal selves.**_

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_**"I am going to get that girl." I growled and pulled Taylor out of the door in the direction of the dining hall.**_

_**"Miles she was only kidding. And anyway you can just tease her about Chad tomorrow when she comes back from their little date." Taylor suggested.**_

_**"I will be questioning both of you as soon as you walk through the door. But I'm so helping you both chose what you wear. I know it's only really casual but you've got to look cute!" I insisted, immediately cheering up as I thought about possible outfits for Mitchie and Taylor.**_

_**As we walked to our usual seats Mitchie looked up and beamed at me. Then she turned to Shane and laughed at whatever he had said.**_

_**"Well at least they've sorted out their differences." I murmured to Taylor and she nodded her head in agreement.**_

_**"Hey Shane! Mitchie!" I said, faking extreme cheerfulness and out of nowhere whacked Mitchie around the head.**_

_**"Ow! Miles you're getting very vicious – we're going to have to put you in a cage soon." Mitchie teased, rubbing her head mournfully.**_

_**"You'll get over it. But look on the bright side: you're now forgiven."**_

_**"It better not bruise for tomorrow. Or I will get you back." Mitchie muttered.**_

_**"Oooh what's so important about tomorrow Mitchie?" Shane asked, suddenly interested.**_

_**"Nothing, I'm just meeting Chad at Starbucks." Mitchie muttered, embarrassed by the attention and looking at Jake with an apologetic smile.**_

_**"Mitchie and Chad sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Shane taunted and made kissing noises.**_

_**Mitchie's cheeks flushed a dark red and she bent her head down to try and hide it.**_

_**"Shane don't be so childish. They're going for a drink as friends because they're mature and they can socialise without acting like a five year old." I shot back for Mitchie.**_

_**Mitchie looked at me thankfully and I grabbed her hand and we stood up and started walking to get some food.**_

_**I heard Shane behind me whisper to Taylor, "Is Miley mad at me?"**_

_**Taylor laughed at him and replied quite loudly so that we could hear. "Nah, not really. Maybe a tad. She was just arguing for Mitchie. You shouldn't have teased her though. She really likes Chad."**_

_**I went to the food and got a jacket potato with cheese and some salad. Mitchie opted for sweet and sour chicken with rice.**_

_**"Hey Miley. Do you mind if me and Lucas sit with you?" I heard from behind me.**_

_**"Nate! Sure. If you can put up with your brother. He's already earned himself two slaps." I laughed.**_

_**"Yeah he does manage to annoy people. My mum always says that's his special talent."**_

_**I sat down next to Mitchie with Nate and Lucas sitting down opposite us. Taylor nudged Shane to take him out of his dream world and got him to look in our direction. I could see the bright smile on his face at Nate getting on with his friends and he quickly joined in our conversation.**_

_**"Does everybody want to hang out or something?" Nate asked.**_

_**"We would but we've got the Twilight DVD and chocolate back in our room just screaming our name." Mitchie replied.**_

_**"You have watched that film too many times! Just because you think that actors are fit! I can't even remember their names but I should the number of times I've been forced to watch it." Shane whined.**_

_**"Sorry Shaney you'll just have to survive one night without us. Plus we've got to make a decision on what club to join. And seeing as we disagree it could be a long night." I apologised.**_

_**"Hey it's no worries. If they're doing girlie stuff we'll embrace our manliness. We haven't checked out the new gym yet." Nate suggested to the guys and they quickly said their goodbyes and ran in the direction of the sports centre on campus.**_

_**Us girls took the more mature approach of walking slowly with our arms joined and giggling over Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner (the names that Shane does know but refuses to mention because of his EXTREME jealously.)**_

_**After a whole 105 minutes of our favourite film, chocolate and popcorn I ejected the disc and sat back down with the girls.**_

_**"Aww I love that ending so much! I could never get tired of watching that movie." Mitchie gushed.**_

_**"Plus Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner just makes the film instantly perfect even if Taylor has long hair in it. He's still fit in New Moon." I giggled.**_

_**"Agreed! And I don't want to break the mood but we've really got to decide what clubs we're joining or Mr Moorstone will pick for us. It's pretty obvious that he'll choose cheerleading/dance as well because he knows there's like some issues between us and the barbies."**_

_**"Taylor you just admitted that cheerleading at Hartbridge is the place for the barbies. So why do you want to do it so bad?" I groaned.**_

_**"It's something different and we could be good at it. Plus it would be refreshing to have three normal girls on the squad for once. And it's a great way to meet fit lads from other schools for Miley." She grinned.**_

_**"I've got an idea. Why don't we join cheerleading and Taylor's happy. And then we can join another club so that if we absolutely hate the cheerleaders and can't put up with it we can easily quit because we've still got another club." Mitchie suggested.**_

_**"Perfect! So what other clubs are there?" I asked.**_

_**"Well there's the creative writing club who write for the school newspaper but that takes up loads of time and if we're joining two clubs that's not a good idea." Taylor said.**_

_**"There's the science club but can you remember what happened when the professor trusted us three alone in the lab for five minutes? I doubt he'll let us join." Mitchie laughed at the memory of us accidentally letting the frogs out of their enclosure.**_

_**"The maths club is a no-go as well. It's made up of geniuses and the last thing I want is for everyone to look at us like we're really dumb." I added.**_

_**"There's all the girls sports teams but we're not particularly sporty. Taylor, you get hit on the head every time you step on the netball court, Miley just trips up over her own feet and the PE teacher hates me after all my excuses not to go play sport in the cold weather." Mitchie giggled at the thought of the chaos that would follow us joining any sports team.**_

_**"What about the performing arts club? Mitchie you said you wanted to join anyway. Miley once you've performed at the talent show you'll be able to perform without wanting to hide away and I like that sort of thing as well. Plus they only start meeting on the run up to the end of year show and by then there's less homework. It's perfect." Taylor concluded happily.**_

_**"Performing arts and cheerleading/dance it is." Mitchie and me agreed.**_

_**"Oooh how about we get in our PJ's early and just relax and sit in bed talking. Maybe then we'll get up on time. Miley, have you set the alarm?" Taylor asked.**_

_**"Umm yup I've set it for 6.30am so we can all get showers and dressed with plenty of time. I heard someone ask what's happening for breakfast and she said the canteen will be open between 6am and 7.30am." I told them as I climbed into my bed and switched my bedside lamp on.**_

_**Shane's P.O.V:**_

_**I glanced at the clock on the wall. 10pm. Jake still wasn't back from hanging out with the boys and from the keys on his bed I was guessing that he wasn't going to be able to get in without my help.**_

_**I'd stayed at the gym for an hour until 8pm but then I'd announced that I was coming back up to the room. I said I was tired and I probably would have gone to sleep but then I noticed Jake's keys and I may as well get some more ideas down for mine and Taylor's song.**_

_**I took the piece of paper out of my school bag and picked up my guitar. I quickly read through her ideas:**_

_*** Forbidden love – Rome and Juliet style**_

_*** Belonging with someone but they have a girlfriend**_

_*** Being young and naïve in love**_

_*** Being in love making you fearless**_

_*** A relationship breaking down**_

_*** Ranting about an ex and everything you hated**_

_*** Feelings about being cheated on**_

_*** Forgiving somebody but they always hurt you again**_

_**Right at the bottom I saw one that she had wrote and the rubbed out vigorously, hoping for it to disappear forever. But I could still see it. Falling in love with your best friend.**_

_**That one sentence has my mind in a spin. Does she feel the same way? Was it just a coincidence? Should I tell her how I feel? But it just feels so wrong for somebody so beautiful and perfect as Taylor to choose me to fall in love with. I mean, just because she wrote it down doesn't mean it's about me – it's a typical love song. But why did she rub it out?**_

_**I shook the thoughts of my mind and focused on the project, strumming my guitar gently to get me in the mood for writing a song. I should be thinking of loads – my current situation is perfect inspiration for great lyrics.**_

_**I must have lost track of time because soon enough I heard Jake banging on the door and whisper shouting, "Shane you in there? I've left my keys! Crap, are you asleep? Okay stupid question. Shane wake up!"**_

_**The clock was telling me it was 11pm. I'd spent an hour on thinking of songs and I hadn't done half bad. The list for song ideas now included:**_

_*** Fancying a girl and trying to win her over**_

_*** Finding somebody that's much better than your ex**_

_*** Falling in love when you said you wouldn't ever again**_

_*** Still in love after breaking up**_

_*** Finding the person that's the one**_

_*** Wanting to work out an argument**_

_**I stood up, happy with my progress, and opened the door for Jake. It's an understatement to say that he was very irritated.**_

_**"Dude! Finally. I can't believe I forgot my keys." Jake groaned.**_

_**"I told you I was coming back to go to sleep. Surely you would have remember then that you hadn't got any keys?" I replied.**_

_**"But you weren't asleep. I can see the guitar and paper. You were obviously working on a song." Jake said, pointing at my bed and raising an eyebrow.**_

_**"Yeah I know. I was going to but then I just got into my mode and spending 10 minutes thinking of a few ideas and jotting them down turned into an hour of frustrating mind-block and trying desperately to think of great songs." I moaned and pushed my guitar under my bed and put the song ideas back in my school bag.**_

_**"How did it go in the end?"**_

_**"Not so bad. I managed to get six not so bad ideas. Taylor will develop them for sure. She's just… amazing."**_

_**"Shane you've got it bad. Just tell her. It's obvious she likes you too."**_

_**"You think? But that doesn't even matter. I'm not sure I'm even ready for a relationship. Especially because it's Taylor and that means I'd want to make sure everything's perfect. I'd just screw up and I'd lose her friendship as well. No matter how crazy I am about her – it's for the best if I just get used to the label of her best friend."**_

_**"Shane you're thinking about it too much. You got to follow your heart." Jake persisted.**_

_**"Wow Jake, when did you get so deep?" I laughed.**_

_**"I'm full of surprises. Anyway let's go to bed. I definitely do not want to sleep in tomorrow and get detention on my first week like the girls. My parents would kill me and I don't want to face coach and tell him I can't put any extra time into football training." He said and shuddered at the thought of the punishment coach would give us. Probably 50 press-ups or a 5-mile run.**_

_**"Night man." I muttered, switching off the light and pulling my bedspread over me.**_

* * *

**A/N: Okay so next chapter will be the next day with Mitchie and Chad's date, Taylor and Shane 'working on their project' and of course Miley & Nick Tell me anything you would like to see!**

**On to the important part. I've been thinking about the songs I'll have them sing in the talent show and I honestly can't decide and I don't want to pick one you guys don't like or don't think suits the characters. So I'm going to give you two songs for each couple and I'd like you all to vote in your review for the song you like. If you think there's a way better song choice then please mention it! The first ones I've wrote for each couple are my personal favourites at the moment.**

**For Miley & Nate I've got Before The Storm or Fly With Me. I know a lot of people said they'd love Before The Storm as the song but it wouldn't fit the situation. Well the thing is The Talent Show is a long way off and a LOT of stuff can happen between Miley and Nick before then. I'm not saying anything more than it may just suit them more than you think ;) because I don't want to give much away. But if people wanted Before the Storm I'd have them writing Fly With Me for a while and then when Before The Storm finally fits they'd begin to think of that.**

**For Shane & Taylor I've chosen Two Is Better Than One or Jump The Fall. I kind of got stuck for the second choice on this one so if you've got any other suggestions PLEASE tell me them.**

**For Jake & Mitchie so far I've decided on either We'll Be A Dream or Here We Go Again. For this pair I'm thinking more Jake can be a talented drummer and Mitchie can sing so chose what you can picture Mitchie singing ;)**

**For Lucas & Alex I thought maybe Naturally or Crush but once again I was kind of stuck because I've not really listened to many Selena Gomez songs so help me out! And I was thinking possibly the same as Jake and Mitchie with Selena singing and Lucas playing an instrument. I can't really picture him singing :P**

**Read and review please & don't forget to vote for the songs you want x**

* * *

**Review replies:**

**terzo - **haha i'm the writer and i can't wait til Taylor tells Joe either. i was tempted to put it in this chapter but i've already thought of how i want it to happen so i sacrificed what i wanted for a better storyline :L & i'm sorry i didn't update last night, this always takes me longer than i think!

**loveiscoming - **well here's the chapter & i'll always support my reviewers cos they're absolutely fantastic :)

**niley16 - **Nick will be jealous of somebody i promise i've already got it figured out. but im a slow writer so you've gotta be patient with me - it will be in a chapter very soon though don't worry :) & i've noticed that you've been reviewing terzo's stories so thanks for reading my authors notes & supporting her :D and i'd chosen exactly the same songs as you for them two :L

**NileyxMoexLOVEx - **i'm sorry i've not chosen We'll Be A Dream for Nate and Miley at the minute but i may change my mind. But i have put it as an option for Mitchie :D & i do want something relevant to Nate & Miley because they're my main couple but the others don't have to be so please leave the suggestions. and thanks for such a good review.

**JazzyxNileyxFizzle - **thanks for the review and i know there's not much Niley in this one but give me time :D and thanks for the song suggestions. don't forget to vote for the song you want for each couple!

**Niley23 Alex - **thank youuu. & i hope you had a great holiday on the beach. & i'm sorry for the lack of Niley this chapter. i'll sort that out for my next update :) infact my next chapter is very coupley for all 3 girls!

**Pinkberryx3 - **haha and thank you if you did get round to reading terzo's stories and hopefully reviewed them :)

**kiisuke379 - **glad you liked it & here's the update!

**NikkyJonas - **well as long as the chapters don't dissapoint you i'm fine. but you've gotta tell me if somethings rubbish! & i can understand why Taylor Lautner makes you feel hyper. so i've put him in this for youu!

**Mayniac - **haha i managed to make sense of your review :D it was weird because i'd just looked at Two Is Better Than One for Shane & Taylor and i loved it and then i got your review :P so make sure you vote for the song you want for each couple!


	11. Chapter 10 They're Gonna Get Caught

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 10**_

**_Miley's P.O.V:_**

_The loud sound of Tik Tok by Ke$ha blasted out of my alarm clock, immediately waking me up. Mitchie tumbled to the floor with a loud thud causing Taylor to burst into giggles, poorly muffled by her pillow in an attempt to not make Mitchie grumpy._

_"Miley! You could have warned me that your alarm clock is like a fog horn!" Mitchie grumbled as she picked herself up and rubbed her head grouchily after whacking it against the wardrobe._

_I stretched my arms upwards and yawned tiredly. "Mitchie if it wasn't loud enough we'd still be snoozing away and earning ourselves tickets to a nightmare called Mr Moorstone's office." I reasoned._

_"She's right Mitchie. We really cannot afford any more detentions and we definitely don't need Mr Moorstone on our backs right from the word go. My mum will murder me for getting even one week worth of detention – never mind anymore." Taylor agreed and jumped out of bed and hastily ran towards the bathroom for the luxury of first dibs._

_Mitchie complained slightly before settling for claiming the bathroom after Taylor decided she was finished. She quickly made her bed and debated quietly with herself between a shower now and a shower later. Obviously opting for the second option she slipped on a pair of dark denim jeans and took out a plain navy long top and a black and white striped long sleeved shirt to choose between._

_"The navy one definitely. It's cute." I told her._

_"Thanks. I'll change to meet Chad though. I know it's only casual but I still want to look cute." She replied and flung the rejected shirt back in her drawer._

_After Taylor was finished Mitchie darted into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth._

_"Miles what shall I wear? It's got to be nice because I want to look pretty when I tell Shane. But I can't change my outfit after school because that would be super obvious." Taylor panicked, dragging me over to the wardrobe and motioning towards her clothes for me to pick from._

_"Ooh how about your light denim jeans with your cream cowboy boots and a check shirt. Very you but very cute to knock Shane off his feet." I giggled as I took out her jeans, shoes with a red and cream checked shirt._

_"Thank you Miley – you're the best!" Taylor squealed and hugged me tightly._

_Mitchie walked out of the bathroom and picked up her jacket ready to go and Taylor followed her lead. They simultaneously looked in my direction expectantly – both of them noticing for the first time that I hadn't even begun to get ready._

_"Miles you woke us up with your annoying alarm clock and we're both ready to go down for breakfast while you're not even dressed." Mitchie moaned._

_"Umm I'm not hungry so you guys go down without me. I'll meet you in class, okay?" I said as I got up and began to file through my outfits._

_Without another word they were out of the door. I picked out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white vest top with a thick grey and black cardigan. No point me dressing up when I've got no prince charming to impress._

_Once in the bathroom I double checked that the water running out of the water was quite warm before I stepped in and let the soothing water do it's magic. As I let the shower relax my tense muscles I quickly washed and conditioned my hair before stepping out and wrapping my towel around me and brushing my teeth. I got dressed and suppressed a sigh as I inspected my rather boring ensemble in the mirror. At least it's only for school._

_I looked at the clock to see that I had 30 minutes left. I decided to blow dry my hair into its natural curls and then I applied natural make-up. After all if Taylor's forcing me to be a cheerleader I may as well make a bit more of an effort than usual. Not that I'm going to start wearing ultra revealing clothing or shovel on the make-up. That's just tacky._

_With 5 minutes to spare I strolled happily into my classroom and found my desk to sit down and wait patiently for Mitchie and Taylor to turn up._

_"Hey Miley. You're here early today. Feeling okay?" Nate joked as he walked through the door with Jake and Shane and pretended to feel my forehead for a temperature._

_"Haha you're hilarious, really. This may shock you but I'm usually early. Yesterday was a blip in my extremely spotless record. And it's going to be a one-off because I am NOT making detention my regular hang-out." I retorted and waved hello to Shane and Jake._

_"If you say so, I guess I'll take your word for it. Do you want to maybe hang out again tonight after your detention? We could maybe work on the project this time. Or we could just chill. I don't mind." Nate said._

_"Yeah sure I'd love to! Maybe we could start thinking about what we want to sing. I'm guessing the others were sensible and got a head start yesterday so we should probably catch up." I suggested._

_"Well if I could go back and change yesterday afternoon I wouldn't change it for the world. But working on our project might be a good idea tonight. I'll meet you at your room at 5pm. That okay?"_

_"Aww well I think that's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard escape your lips. I'll see you at 5." I giggled and looked at the door just in time to see Mitchie and Taylor sprint into the classroom and skid to a halt to stop them from colliding with the teacher's desk. After recovering themselves they ignored the laughter coming from the boys and collapsed in their chairs, out of breath._

_Nate flashed me a smile, said good morning to the girls and raised his eyebrows at me as if to say 'I'll leave you to talk to your weird friends' before walking over to his group of friends._

_"Wow you two. That was quite an entrance. But why the sudden enthusiasm to get to class? There's still 2 minutes until the late bell goes." I pointed out._

_"What?! Taylor's watch said it was like 1 minute until we were late and we were sat on the grass on the other side of campus." Mitchie cried._

_"Oh man! Are you seriously telling me that we just sprinted all the way here for absolutely no reason? I can't believe our luck." Taylor groaned._

_"Hate to break it to you – but yes."_

_This is going to be an incredibly long day, I thought._

_***_

_**(Skipped forward to the end of Miley's detention– I really don't want to describe the whole school day, as it would just be pointless and rubbish to run through the school day. Plus the main stuff is happening after school)**_

_And I was completely right. First off we had English – enjoyable at times when the project is okay but I am actually beginning to despise Romeo and Juliet even if I am good at it. Then we had ICT and the stuff we are told to do is crap and we can't go on any decent websites seeing as school got the genius idea of blocking sites that aren't educational. The only saviour is that we're allowed to bring our own laptops for in our rooms. After break came Science and I'm not what you'd call keen on learning about our body or electricity or whatever Science teachers drone on about. The only cool part is entertaining experiments, which are an extreme rarity at Hartbridge. The highlight of my day was obviously Drama with Miss Hudgens – she's actually got an idea of what teenagers respond to. Things went downhill again for our History lesson. I'm more interested in my present and the future not the past and the teacher's is definitely what you'd sum up as boring. Once lunch was over I spent Maths helping Mitchie and Taylor struggle through the work, luckily I'm good at Maths. I used my Art class to have some much-needed relaxation before getting incredibly confused about the world map in Geography. For our last lesson of the day we had Music. At least the teacher let's me, Mitchie and Taylor sit in a corner with some instruments and mess around. The depressing thought is that I'm going to spend every school day stuck in this routine until the end of the year._

_Usually the bell signalling the end of the day would bring on a wave of relief after a day as bad as the one I had experiences. Unfortunately I had half an hour's detention to suffer before I could escape and meet Nate. Things seemed to go from bad to worse as Mr Young, our English teacher, waltzed in and announced that he would be supervising our detention as Miss Hudgens had an important meeting. So here I am stuck in detention where I can't even speak to Mitchie and Taylor because that's Mr Young's idea of a suitable punishment._

_I glanced up at the clock and sighed impatiently. 2 minutes to go. I picked up my completed homework and put it in my school bag. If I want to look on the bright side I could always say that silent detention has given me the incentive to get my homework finished and out of the way._

_"Girls, you may go. Have a good night and remember your homework to write Juliet's diary entry after meeting Romeo is due in tomorrow." Mr Young reminded us as he got up out of his chair and walked out of the door. It's safe to say we didn't waste any time in getting out of there either as we made a quick dash for our room._

_Mitchie sprinted into the bathroom before taking the quickest shower possible and changed into the outfit she had chosen carefully the night before – white denim jeans, black leather boots and a dark grey sweater with sequins all over it. I straightened her hair for her while she applied smoky eye make-up and a bit of lip-gloss before piling her phone, money, lip-gloss and room key into a black handbag._

_"See you later Mitch – have a nice time." I called after her as she sped down the corridor._

_"What time is it Miles?" Taylor asked as she finished applying her mascara._

_"Umm it's 10 minutes until 5pm. What time are you meeting Shane?"_

_"I told him to meet me on the beach in our spot. I remember going there on the first night here to feel closer to home in Los Angeles. Of course now we've moved to London I don't feel homesick for the beach. A boy saw me and recognised me from the driveway in the morning so he sat with me and we talked until about 1am in the morning. It was Shane." Taylor recalled, smiling softly at the memory. I could tell it was something special to her that she'd never forget, "I just wanted it to be there that I told him. It will be perfect then."_

_"Tay that's really romantic. It's exactly the right way to tell him." I reassured her, so happy that she's finally getting her fairytale moment._

_"I better get going now. Could you pass me the blanket off my bed?" Taylor asked as she pulled on a fair of flip-flops with her jeans and checker top. Cowboy boots aren't exactly ideal for the beach after all._

_"Go get your man." I giggled as I pushed her gently out of the door and waved goodbye as she walked to the exit, looking back at me with a nervous smile as she exited the building._

_Before I could close the door Nate appeared round the corner from his room and grinned at me._

_"Should I be freaked out that you had the door ready for me? I don't want another stalker to worry about along with my long line of admirers." He joked and I punched his arm lightly._

_"I was just making sure Taylor actually went in the direction of the beach and didn't back out."_

_"Suuuure. Why would she back out? It's not like some big date – it's Shane."_

_"Yeah but its not just some regular hanging out either. She's going to tell him she likes him as more than a friend." I told him as I sat down on my bed._

_His eyes widened in recognition and a huge smile crept onto his face. "Really? That's great! All he talks about at home to mum is Taylor and whenever you tease him he blushes madly. He's obviously crazy about her. I just didn't realise she felt the same way."_

_"Yeah, I think she's liked him ever since they met but she's never had the guts to tell him. And he's had girlfriends before so that didn't exactly encourage her."_

_"Yeah but he always compared his girlfriends to Taylor. And they never matched her. He was just clueless to the fact that he liked her." Nate laughed._

_"They've both been oblivious to it. Mitchie and me have teased both of them about it and we've hinted at them acting like a couple to try and get them to realise it. I'm starting to think they've both known how they've felt for ages but they've been too scared to do anything about it."_

_"Sounds exactly like Shane. How about we try and think of a song? I know we've got ages yet but the sooner we think of one the more time we've got to perfect the lyrics and music and then to get our voices sounding great together." Nate said, his eyes brightening at the mention of music. I smiled back enthusiastically, I can't help thinking that I'm lucky to have a partner that I get on with and who seems truly excited about the project._

_"I think we should do quite a slow song. Which means it's probably going to be a love song. If that's okay with you." I blushed. I don't want him to think that I want to write a love song with him – I just think it will suit us best._

_"Miley you're blushing! If you think a love song will be awkward for us then we'll find something else to do."_

_"No! It's not that. I just didn't want you to think I was some obsessed girl that's dream come true was to spend months with Nate Grey writing and practising a love song and then getting to perform it. Not that some girls don't dream of that. Just not me." I laughed at Nate's horror-struck expression at the thought of working with a girl like that._

_"It hadn't even crossed my mind that you'd be like that. I'd actually feel comfortable writing a love song with you because I know there are no secret intentions – I can be myself with you like we're best friends." Nate said softly._

_"Love song it is then." I giggled and took my guitar out of its case and handed it to Nate. "Just play what you feel. My daddy always told me that's the secret to writing a hit song – write what you truly feel."_

_"He obviously knew what he was talking about. Did he write songs?"_

_"Yeah, his dream was to be a singer and he always chased that dream. He went over to America for a few years to try and get signed but then he met my Mum and they moved back to England and he became a songwriter. Then my Mum died when I was three and he kind of stopped and it wasn't like we needed the money anyway. I guess when Mum left so did his inspiration. He only writes songs nowadays for a bit of money if we ever need it but they're never love songs." I told him sadly._

_I miss the way my dad used to be. He was so carefree when I was younger but after mum died it's like he wanted to forget the pain of loving mum and in doing so he left behind his love of life and more importantly his love of music._

_"I'm so sorry about your mum Miley – I never knew. I think we should write this song for your dad – make him proud of you. Maybe that will be enough to get his inspiration back." Nate said wisely, hugging me tightly._

_"Thanks Nate for not treating me like a charity case just because my mum died. I'm sick of all the sympathetic looks. I'm fine and I've not forgotten mum, I think about her everyday and I'll always miss her but I've got to live my life. I'm lucky to have a great dad to support me – he's never let grief stop him from being a father to me and my brother."_

_"Then let's get writing this song." Nate grinned as we sat down at my desk to start writing._

_**Taylor's P.O.V:**_

_I unrolled the blanket carefully to spread it over the sand then grabbed some candles out of my bag and placed them all around the blanket before striking a match and lighting them. I lay down and stared up at the stars, waiting for Shane – becoming nervous for the millionth time today._

_Oh my gosh! There is no way on earth that I'm going to be able to go through with this. I can feel my heart pounding dramatically in my chest as if at any moment it's about to burst. My hands are even starting to clam up as I get more and more nervous._

_What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if he gets freaked out and runs away from me? What if this confession ruins everything we've got?_

_"Taylor! Where are you? I can't see – it's too dark." I heard Shane call from the pathway at the top of the beach._

_"I'm right by the shore, straight ahead from the path. I've got candles down here so you'll see me when you get closer." I shouted as loud as I could in his direction._

_I got no reply but the soft patter of footsteps in my direction assured me that he had found me._

_"Hey! It's our spot. Good thinking – we might get some brainwave for the song from being here." Shane said excitedly as he handed me his guitar and the piece of paper with song ideas scribbled on it before sitting down beside me._

_"Hopefully, I so want our song to be awesome." I agreed, smiling nervously._

_"Are you okay? You seem really on edge." Shane asked concerned._

_"Umm just nervous." I told the truth instinctively. I've never felt the need to keep anything from Shane or lie to him. So I just didn't even think that he wouldn't know why I'm nervous._

_"Why? Is something happening that I've not been told about?" Shane replied, clearly confused._

_Looking at Shane's face, I know that the only way to tell Shane is to be completely honest and straight-forward._

_"I've got something really important to tell you. But I'm not sure how you're going to respond. Please don't react badly." I whispered._

_"Tay you can tell me anything – I'm your best friend through everything." Shane reassured me._

_"Okay, here goes," I began and breathed deeply. "I really like you Shane. But not just as friends, I'm pretty certain that I've fallen for you. I've felt this way for ages but I just didn't have the confidence to ever tell you. Lately I've realised that I need to let you know how I feel because then I'll never know if I sat by and wasted my chance."_

_Shane's mouth formed an 'O' shape as I finished talking as I looked at my lap shyly, dreading the words that would fall out of Shane's mouth next._

_"Taylor don't' look so scared. I feel exactly the same way – I've liked you ever since we met at this exact same spot last year. You don't know how glad I am that I can finally admit it." Shane replied and pulled me into a tight hug._

_It was my turn to be surprised at Shane's revelation and I could feel myself tense up with shock. I soon relaxed into his arms and hugged him back in a way that I've never hugged him before. And I like it._

_When I finally pulled away from Shane's grip he immediately slipped his hand into mine and pulled me closer._

_"So… where do we go from here?" I whispered._

_Shane turned to me and grinned adorably. "I'd like you to be my girlfriend, if you want to be of course."_

_"I'd love to be your girlfriend." I replied as I reached up on my tiptoes and connected my lips to his, him immediately kissing me back._

_I instantly felt the sparks flying at the contact and I smiled into the kiss, the only thought running through my head is that I wish that time could stand still and me and Shane could stay on the beach, just us two, forever._

_"What are you thinking?" Shane asked, lying down and pulling me down next to him._

_"I'm thinking that tonight couldn't have been more perfect. I wish I'd listened to the girls ages ago now." I giggled as I thought about all the times Miley and Mitchie had insisted that Shane and me were perfect together._

_"Snap! Nobody can even begin to understand how happy I feel right now." Shane whispered and kissed me softly._

_"I can understand." I giggled, "But how about we get back on to the project? Not to ruin the moment or anything."_

_"Sure. You should probably take a look at the song ideas I thought of. I'm thinking that we should write a happy love song now – a depressed song might not be the easiest thing to write when I'm really cheerful and in love."_

_"I'll try and focus on the project then. But don't blame me if I fail. All I can think of is the first night we met here."_

_"Then let's write a song about us – starting from the first night we met."_

_"Oh my god! You're an absolute genius Shane. Got any paper?"_

_**Shane's P.O.V:**_

_I watched Taylor's face light up at the idea and I immediately knew that we had found the song we were looking for. I love that Taylor never ever fails to be happy over the simplest yet important details. She's still the same beautiful and caring girl that I met on the beach last year. I can remember every last detail of that night – where she was sitting, what she was wearing and every thing she said._

_"Of course – and I've got the first part" I grinned and pulled out a piece of paper, scribbling my lyrics onto it._

_"I remember what you wore on the first day. You came into my life and I thought hey." I sung softly._

_Taylor turned to me curiously, "Do you really remember?"_

_"Soaked denim shorts and a white vest top, clinging to you and most likely see-through. I tried not to look to protect your dignity. You'd just waded into the water and not spared a thought for your poor clothes. I could never forget." I laughed._

_"Wow. Taylor breathed and picked up the guitar, strumming gently until she found a soft steady tune. "Sing your first line to this and let's see if it goes."_

_"Maybe you should sing the first line. Your voice is better."_

_"Shane those lyrics are personal to your memory – you should sing that bit. And anyway, your voice really suited it." Taylor insisted._

_I took a deep breath and began to sing, adding a bit on that had formed in my head. Once I finished I grinned happily._

_"Okay I don't want to be big-headed or anything. But that sounded absolutely awesome!"_

_Taylor nodded in reply and chewed her pencil thoughtfully before turning to the paper and jotting down more lyrics._

_Things went on like this for an hour or so, Taylor continuously playing the tune and us both furiously noting down the lyrics running round and round in our heads. Finally we'd formed an unbelievably good song._

_"I can't actually believe this. In just one night I've found out that the boy I love feels the same way and we've wrote the perfect song for the talent contest. This is officially one of the best nights of my life." Taylor squealed excitedly and hugged me tightly._

_"Not the best? I'm offended." I joked and pulled away, pretending to be offended._

_"Oh I don't have favourites. Not when there's the night we met, the night my little sister was born and New Years Eve with Miley and Mitchie every year. They're all the best." Taylor giggled and kissed me gently._

_It's safe to say I'm the happiest person on earth at the moment. I can now call my best friend/ the girl of my dreams my girlfriend, I've got my brother back and everything's going perfectly._

_"Okay then, I'll be happy with the fact that I'm in two of them! Maybe we should head back to school now. It's getting late and as much as I'd like to just stay here with you I'm not sure that's the best idea. Miley's on her own isn't she? We could go keep her company." I suggested as I got up and pulled Taylor to her feet._

_She immediately picked up the blanket and slung it over her shoulder, quickly blowing out the candles and piling them into her bag._

_I grabbed my guitar and slipped my free hand into hers._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_A noise from outside woke me up as I rubbed my eyes. Must have fallen asleep while waiting for the girls to get back. I looked at my alarm clock. 10pm and still no Taylor or Mitchie. I tried to roll onto the other side but something stopped me. Then I noticed the muscular arm holding me tightly._

_Nervously I glanced across at the unknown person asleep with me._

_I sighed with relief at the sight of Nate sleeping peacefully with a small smile playing on his lips. Tonight was really great. Writing a song with him just feels so natural and there was no need to hold back._

_I let out a whispered giggle as Nate's curls fell into his eyes and I gently brushed them back, admiring his deep chocolate brown eyes and his silky complexion. No wonder one smouldering glance or quick smile from him has the ability to make girls fall head over heels for him. A true heart breaker._

_A knock at the door grabbed my attention and I heard Taylor shout, "Hey Milers, it's just me and Shane. I've got my key though!"_

_I quickly pulled myself up to move away from Nate. Somehow I don't think people would see me lying in Nate's arms as two innocent friends, especially not Shane._

_The sudden movement must have shocked Nate as he shot up and banged into me causing me to fall straight to the floor with Nate landing on top of me._

_"Wow Miley, you really got yourself out of that one." I muttered to myself sarcastically as Taylor and Shane burst through the door._

_"Umm are we interrupting something?" Taylor asked as Nate pulled himself up and coughed awkwardly._

_"What? No! We were just writing our song and then we must have fell asleep waiting for you guys. Then you idiotically shouted and startled us so we fell off the bed." I protested as I got to my feet and shot her a warning look to drip it._

_She shrugged casually and sat down on the bed with Shane. He quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and she leant her head on his shoulder with a shy smile._

_"So… does this mean you're finally together?" I asked curiously._

_"Yes!" Taylor squealed then covered her mouth quickly as she realised that she'd made it completely obvious that us girls had been discussing it before._

_"Congrats love birds." Nate smirked and flicked Shane on the ear, "But we better be off. Isn't there some rule about boys and girls not mixing in rooms after a certain time?"_

_"Yes, crap! After 10pm you get detention if your in the opposite sexes room. Nate what's the best way to go without teacher's catching us?"_

_" I hate to disappoint your secret wish to be a cross between a ninja and a spy but I vote we just walk normally and hope if we bump into a teacher it isn't a strict one."_

_"Ugh! You always ruin thing for me. But fine." Shane groaned as Nate pushed him out of the door with a last wave._

_I nudged the door with my foot to close it._

_"No! I forgot to say bye!" Shane shouted as he barged through the door just in time, "Ooft, that was a close one."_

_"Wow. Way to lay low and not attract attention Shane. I'd be surprised if the whole campus didn't hear you." I giggled_

_"Was it really loud?" Shane whispered nervously to Taylor._

_"No, it's just Miley enjoying teasing you. But you should definitely go before you push your luck and get caught." Taylor laughed and began to push him towards the door._

_"I get the feeling your trying to get rid of me!" Shane pouted._

_"Bye babe." Taylor said firmly as she kissed him on the cheek before quickly pushing him out of the doorway and closing the door._

_"Meanie! But I still love you." Shane whisper-shouted._

_"Earth to Shane! Do you really want detention? No? Didn't think so. Let's go!" Nate grumbled from the other side._

_"Bye boys." Taylor and me called._

_"Bye." They chorused before we heard them sprinting down the corridor in an attempt to get to their room without a teacher noticing._

_"They're so going to get caught." Taylor giggled._

_"No doubt about it!"_

_"Bed time?"_

_"You read my mind. I wonder what's taking Mitchie so long though."_

_"Ah, she's probably just lost track of time. Don't worry though; she's got common sense unlike Shane and Nate. She'll creep in after the teacher's finish their look outs."_

_I laughed as it dawned on me that the boys had chosen the stupidest time to leave. I changed into my pyjamas and quickly combed a brush through my hair before switching off the light._

_"Miles, put it back on for a second. I'll put the lamp on so you can get to your bed safely. You're going to…"_

_"Argh, my toe! Owwwwwww!" I screeched as I collided with something hard and cold and stubbed my toe. _

_"Hate to say I told you so. But I told you so." Taylor sniggered as switched on the lamp and helped me up and onto my bed where I cradled my foot ruefully and glared at the object i had banged into - Mitchie's bed._

_"Shut it Miss know-it-all. For that I WILL quiz you thoroughly on you and lover boy." I retorted and pulled my duvet over me._

_"Whatever you say. But I'm sure Mitchie will find it very interesting to hear about how we found you and Nate." Taylor threatened._

_"Night best friend." I grinned and closed my eyes, smiling softly to myself. She wouldn't dare._

_

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_**Authors Note:**_

_1. **I am SO SO SO sorry** that it's been so long since I updated. I know it's not much of an excuse but I've just been super busy. All through January I had to revise for an important Science exam and I've had a few coursework deadlines. Then it's been my Dad's birthday at the end of January and we had a big family trip over a weekend. But I won't let it happen again, I planned to update weekly and I'm sorry I made you all wait for ages._

_2. I'm really grateful for all the reviews and I've got my loyal reviewers now that are reviewing EVERY week so **thank you so much guys**, you know who you are. You're the reason I was desperate to get this out. I've even sacrificed making my Science coursework deadline for you. Though I'll probably make it if I put some hard work in as soon as I've finished typing my A/N!_

_3. **THE RESULTS FOR THE TALENT SHOW SONG AT THE MOMENT ARE:**_

_* Miley and Nate will be singing Fly With Me_

_* Taylor and Shane will be singing Two Is Better Than One_

_* Mitchie and Jake will be singing Here We Go Again_

_* Alex and Lucas will be singing Naturally_

_Hope you're all happy with that. **If you didn't vote last time** go to the previous chapter and look at the song choices and review with your chosen songs. Taylor and Shane are definitely singing their song now as I've had them writing it and I am obsessed with that song at the minute. But the others are still open to voting :]_

_4. Please read and review. I'd like **more than 12 reviews** for me to post the next chapter. I'm getting 12 reviews pretty much every chapter so if you haven't been reviewing – one little comment & I'll get the chapter up ASAP!_

_5. **Who likes Glee?** I absolutely love it. It's just come_ _out in the UK and I'm hooked after just 5 episodes. In fact it's on right now!

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_

**_Review Replies:_**

_* NileyxMoexLOVEx - _your suggestions were not crap! i was glad for any help i could get and i appreciate people's opinions. thank you for voting for your song choices! xx

_* terzo - _lol last chapter i didn't like Selena's songs much but after listening to her to research for this I LOVE HER SONGS :L thank you for your review & i'm so sorry for the late update! xx

_* Mayniac - _haha you'll have to wait until cheerleading practise to see what happens :D i'll try not to dissapoint you xx

_* JazzyxNileyxFizzle - t_hank you :D I'm sorry there wasn't much Niley again but i'll get there! I just wanted to get Taylor and Shane together finally :P I get so involved in this story when i'm writing it! xx

_* loveiscoming - _thank you for your review - i hope you like this chapter too. though i'm not sure it's as good as others :( xx

_* NikkyJonas - _haha that's okay. i would have put him in as a character but unfortunately know he's a celebrity. you'll have to look out for a celebrity appearance ;) xx

_* niley16 - _thank you for your votes and thank you for telling me that Jake sings, he might end up with a little bit of singing after all :) xx

_* itsaNileything - _thank you for the sweet review :) xx

_* kiisuke379 - _wow thank you. didn't say much but you definitely pleased me. i'm sorry about the rubbish chapter though. i'll try harder next time though! xx

_* Niley23 Alex - _thank you so much for the votes and your comments! i'm glad you had a nice holiday & i'm jealous of your tan - i don't tan well :( xx

_* McFlyGirl -_ thank you! here's the update xx

_* StayGoldPonboy148 - _thank you for reviewing and i hope you like the chapter! xx


	12. Chapter 11 Just What The Doctor Ordered

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 11**_

**_DEDICATED TO NikkyJonas & NileyxMoexLOVEx for their great help. Thanks you two! :D_**

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_"Miles, what are we going to do? We can't just casually drop into the conversation that our best friend's vanished since her date last night!" Taylor shrieked as she paced up and down the room nervously, still in her dressing gown. She had rushed her shower, unable to stand her own worrying._

_I had woken up early and was showered and dressed in a pair of navy ripped jeans, a grey sweater and black studded boots. Only after I walked out of the shower did I notice the empty bed where Mitchie should be sleeping peacefully or begging for a few extra precious minutes in bed._

_"Just relax, any minute now she'll race through that door with a perfectly reasonable explanation and we can all just laugh it off." I replied, with a hopeful glance out the window for any sign of Mitchie. _

_"I can't! I'm worried about her." Taylor whined and sat down on the bed next to me, tapping her foot impatiently._

_I laughed lightly and dialled Mitchie's number again. It went straight through to answer phone._

_"Ugh! She's not picking up." I groaned._

_"Have you got Chad's number? He might know something." _

_"Yeah, he gave it me the other night. I guess I could try it. Why don't you get yourself dressed and ready to go to lesson? We can't exactly do much." I suggested as I scrolled through my contacts to Chad and clicked call._

_"Hello?" a voice whispered quietly followed by a long yawn._

_"Uuum, Chad? It's Miley. Mitchie's not with you is she? She didn't come back last night."_

_"Oh, hey Miley. Yeah, she's asleep right now though. We stayed at the café until pretty late and she couldn't find her keys in her purse; she thinks she left them in your room. So I just said she could stay at my house so she didn't have to wake you guys up."_

_I looked around and sure enough there was Mitchie' keys with her Twilight key ring._

_"Chad, you need to wake her up and tell her to get her bum back here pronto. Lessons start in 10 minutes and she's already got a week of detention for being late."_

_"Crap! Wake up Mitchie. Miley's just rung, you've got ten minutes to get back to school and get ready for lessons. Bye, Miley!"_

_Taylor came out of the bathroom dressed in black skinny jeans, a grey vest top and a white and black striped cardigan, in the middle of brushing her teeth._

_"Any luck?" she managed to say before running back into the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste._

_"Yeah, she forgot her keys and had to stay at Chad's. But he woke her up on the phone so she should be here in a few." I called in to her and got Mitchie's jeans, a slogan t-shirt and pumps out of the wardrobe to make it easier for her._

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_I rushed out of Chad's door with a quick wave bye and began the painful sprint back to campus. I cannot believe my bad luck. Last night went so great as well – we sat talking for hours and he even walked me back to Hartbridge and kissed me goodnight when we got to the gates. Then when I discovered that I'd forgotten my key he was so sweet and said I could stay in the guest room at his parent's house. And I didn't even remember to thank him; I barely had time to say good morning._

_I got to the door of our room finally and breathlessly knocked on the door._

_"Mitchie! Thank god, we were beginning to think you'd been kidnapped or something." Taylor exclaimed and jumped on me._

_"Taylor was going absolutely mental." Miley giggled, "I got some clothes out for you – hurry up."_

_"Thanks! You two should go down to the classroom, I'll be down as soon as I'm sorted." I called as I scooped up the clothes and disappeared into the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind me. _

_"Don't be late. You've got about 5 minutes." Taylor called as they made their way to the school building._

_I sighed heavily and splashed cold water onto my face, instantly feeling more awake and refreshed._

_**Taylor's P.O.V:**_

_"I'm beginning to wonder if Mitchie will ever learn." I giggled and linked arms with Miley._

_"Hey, is that the boys?" Miley asked as she squinted her eyes to focus in on the group she was looking at. _

_"It looks like Shane to me."_

_"And there can't be many boys with curly hair like Nate's" _

_I dissolved into loud giggles at Miley's words and the group turned around, showing us that it was Shane, Nate, Lucas and Jake._

_"Why the laughter? It's too early for that." Shane asked curiously._

_"Oh, no reason. Just something Miley said. How did your little James Bond mission go last night then?"_

_"An absolute disaster." Nate growled and shoved Shane playfully, "Shane here decided it was a good idea to tip toe around, hide behind walls and even do a forward roll. As he put it he was getting into the mode."_

_"I would make an amazing James Bond. Don't even try to deny it." Shane boasted as he put his arm around my waist._

_"No you wouldn't - you were an absolute plonker. We might have been okay if he hadn't crashed into Mr Moorstone and asked him to be quiet as we were trying to hide from the teachers. So it looks like we're in detention with you girls this week."_

_"Don't remind me." Shane groaned. "We've got football practise tonight as well from 6pm until 8pm. It's going to be so tiring."_

_"Please tell me that cheerleading is not the same as that!" Miley exclaimed._

_"Sorry I can't say that but you get a few breaks. Miss Jackson is nice as well. Just watch out for some of the snotty cheerleaders. They might give newbies a bit of a tough time." Nate explained._

_"Great, just what the doctor ordered. Is it too late to cross my name out?" Miley laughed._

_"Miles! You are not crossing you're name off. You've got Mitchie and me there with you – you and Mitch can sulk together." I protested._

_"Fine, I'll go but every second I'm going to be wishing I wasn't there." Miley groaned, "Can we go to class now? Mitchie might be there."_

_The boys nodded in agreement and we filed into the classroom. Sure enough, Mitchie was sitting there wondering where we could possibly be._

_"Hey Mitchie, sorry we stayed outside for a bit." I muttered as I sunk into my seat._

_"Morning guys!" Miss Hudgens called chirpily as she swayed into the room and smiled brightly._

_"Why's she so cheerful?" I muttered to Miley and Mitchie._

_Mitchie shrugged her shoulder and scrunched her face up._

_"I dunno and I don't think we want to find out. It's usually that they've got some news that they think is super but actually it sucks." Miley whispered back._

_"Naah, Miss isn't like that. I think she's met somebody and she's got a date with him tonight or something. No smile that bright can be about anything other than a man." Mitchie stated and we all turned to inspect Miss Hudgens._

_Her smile hadn't left her face, her cheeks were flushed, she had dressed in extra nice clothes and she seemed to have taken extra care with her face and hair._

_Shane caught my eye and blew me a kiss, with a quick wink. I giggled quietly and pretended to catch the kiss._

_"Get a room lovebird. My breakfasts threatening to come back up." Miley snickered and high fived Mitchie behind my chair._

_"Immature." I muttered and stuck my tongue out at Miley._

_"It's what get's me through the school day. Speaking of which, registrations over – this is going to be such a long day." Miley sighed._

_"Tell me about it. At least I got Juliet's diary entry finished in detention last night, I really don't need any more teachers on my back." _

_"Oh bum! I think I've left my homework back in our room." Mitchie squealed._

_"Don't worry about it silly, Sir will let you go get it and if not you can just promise him you'll get it to him for break." I laughed and stopped her from emptying her bag out onto the desk. _

_"I guess so. If I get in trouble for this though then half of the blame is going on your shoulders." _

_"Mitch, you've got no other options. If you try to run up and get it you'll just be late for the lesson. And you won't get in trouble, stop being paranoid." Miley giggled and we turned to the front as Mr Young walked into the classroom._

_"Get your Romeo and Juliet scripts out – we're going to go through the whole thing as a class. Listen up for your characters. Nate as Romeo. Miley as Juliet. Shane as Mercutio. Lucas as Tybalt. Taylor as Juliet's Nurse. Mitchie as Rosaline. Jake as Friar Laurence. Other parts will be assigned as we get to them. We will first speak through it and then we will make it into a class play. You will then perform it in lesson on the stage for your final grade." Mr Young announced as he sat down in his chair and got out his Romeo and Juliet book._

_I looked at Miley's facial expression and giggled quietly. She looked horror struck at being given such a big part and then having to perform it eventually. At least it's not in front of the whole school, then she'd be panicking even more. _

_But then there's an excited smile planted on her face, probably because of being Nate's love interest. I smirked thoughtfully. We're so going to have fun watching them try and deny they have feelings for each other._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_Did I just hear it right? Is Sir going insane? He knows that Miley Stewart cannot possibly get on stage and be the lead character in such a huge play. Especially not with Nate playing Romeo. I don't want to mess up in front of him and have him laugh at me with his friends. I like being invisible and I like how Nate and me are getting on._

_But then there's this feeling in the pit of my stomach and it's not a bad feeling. Excitement? Happiness? I can't help but want to be Nate's Juliet even if it's just for a play. It would mean we'd be hanging out even more to practise lines and rehearse._

_And then there's the kiss. Is that a good thing? For me, I think so. Any girl would be crazy to complain about kissing Nate. But what about him? So it seems like we're becoming friends and he seems comfortable enough with performing together at the talent contest. But that's completely different to kissing me._

_"Miles? You still with us? You seem like you've gone off into Planet Miley. Just an idea but you might want to pay attention." Taylor giggled, waving her hand in front of my face as Mr Young turned to the board to write down who had been assigned which character._

_"Oh yeah sorry. Just thinking, I mean it's going to be a big change for me performing in the talent show and being the lead role in a play all in the same year." I told her._

_"Aww, you'll be fine Miley. You're going to shine in both of them. I heard your Dad the other day and he's right – it's obviously supposed to be this way. And you need to copy the cast list in the front of the book by the way." Taylor whispered._

_"Thank you!" I whispered back and opened the book to the front page and picked up my pen._

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_Me? Romeo? Coach is going to FLIP. We've got a huge year coming up with loads of football competitions and talent scouts are at all of our games. He's already mad enough that we've got to spend a lot of time on our songs for the talent contest, never mind us all being in a play with endless rehearsals._

_"Umm, sir. Would we be rehearsing in lessons and stuff? It's just that we're going to be really busy with football at the weekends and things." I asked nervously._

_"Yes Nate, everything will be done in lessons unless of course you choose to run lines in your own time."_

_Phew! I turned to Miley and grinned widely at her. I've really enjoyed spending time with her and she's a great girl. There's nobody else I'd rather be performing with. _

_She sent me a shy smile back and blushed, ducking her head down onto her book and continued writing down the cast list. Her long hair fell over her face but I could still see her biting her lip in concentration. She's so naturally beautiful and if she get's her confidence I'm sure she'd have the ability to effortlessly get any boy she wants._

_Whoa! I just actually said that. Well thought it actually. It's the effect Miley has on me. She makes me a nicer and happier person and she's made me see what's actually important in life._

_The only thing I'm worried about is the kissing scene. She doesn't like me in that way – I'm always going to be the guy friend. And not even in a Shane and Taylor way. _

_"Okay guys from the start. Alex you will read the prologue please." Mr Young instructed and we all fell silent as Alex began to read._

_***_

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_"Today has been so boring. The teachers are all super keen to get us all working hard and on good grades. We must have been given homework from almost every subject." I groaned as Miley, Taylor and we walked into the girl's changing rooms ready to start cheerleading._

_"Hey guys, you're new on the team right?" a girl from our class, Alex, asked as she got out a box full of new uniforms and rummaged around until she found her size._

_"Umm… yeah. Do we need to get a uniform now and put it on?" I replied, looking around for anybody else._

_"Yeah, Tess said to stay behind for any new girls and make sure they get one. Everyone's pretty much gone down to the field to warm up. I'll take you down when you're changed and introduce you." Alex answered us and sat down on the bench._

_"What's Tess like as boss of the cheerleaders?" Taylor asked curiously as we got our uniforms and walked into some changing cubicles._

_"I don't really know what to say. Determined to do well and she thinks of good routines. But she's the typical head cheerleader: a bit of a bitch, quite snobby, thinks she's the best thing ever invented and you don't want to cross her. She's in the other class in our year; I'm surprised you don't know her." Alex called from the bench._

_"Oh we do know of her, we just don't really talk to her. We've never really got on with her group." I replied coolly, it's pretty obvious to all of our year that us three girls don't have a lot in common with the type of girls who's inspiration is Barbie._

_"Not many people do: some of the jocks and cheerleaders can be pretty cruel. Do you know any of the footballers?" _

_Miley spoke up for this one, "We hang out with Shane Grey and Jake Ryan. We know Nate pretty well too."_

_"Miley more than us." Taylor smirked and nudged Miley with her arm. Miley's cheeks flushed a bright red and muttered "Shut up!" to Taylor. But both Alex and me noticed the little exchange. There's obviously something I need to find out later._

_"Well that's cool, on the trips to football matches we mix with them so it'll be good that you know some people. I wouldn't be too friendly with Nate though – Tess is apparently on the warpath with him in her sights. Any girl she sees as on obstacle she will make a personal enemy of." Alex warned us, looking at Miley in particular._

_"Umm is there a mirror anywhere here?" Miley asked, tugging on her uniform awkwardly._

_I laughed at Miley's obvious discomfort at showing so much skin and Taylor shot her a warning look that she better not moan about it. _

_"Yeah, over here. It'll be weird wearing it for the first few times but you get used to it." Alex promised and tugged Miley over to a full-length mirror. Taylor and me followed her and the three of us stood in a row in front of it._

_The uniform consisted of a purple cheerleading skirt with a gold hem and a purple tight vest top with curly gold writing saying "Go Hartbridge!" with "Hartbridge Cheerleaders" on the bottom of the top at the back._

_"You look great – you're all so thin. You'll also get a cheerleading dress like that and we're getting black jogging bottoms with purple and gold on for practises which Tess has said you can wear with plain black, purple and gold vest tops. There are pom poms but we don't usually use them – we dance." Alex explained and started walking to the exit, "You all ready to go?"_

_"I may as well be naked." Miley blurted out and Taylor, Alex and me dissolved into giggles._

_"Miles, I am feeling just as weird as you right now. Taylor freakily likes wearing this uniform so we can just stick together and pretend we're having so much fun." I said, faking enthusiasm at the end._

_"You two! You promised you were going to do this. Mitchie you're just playing up because you feel like it. And Miley seriously! You have got a great body so get out there and flaunt it." Taylor said and pushed us both out of the door with Alex following behind us._

_"Save me somebody." Miley muttered under her breathe and I smiled at her comfortingly._

_"Tess this is Miley, Mitchie and Taylor – they've joined the cheerleading team." Alex introduced us and sat down with some other girls._

_"Oh. Well as I was saying to the other girls, the boys have got a match every two weeks this year. So I'm extending our practises to Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6pm to 8pm each day. Anybody who cannot do this or isn't willing to put in the effort I suggest you leave now." Tess finished and looked around the group to see if anybody would move._

_Nobody did, shocking really. I would have done but I didn't want to face Taylor and Miley if I did. Knowing Taylor she'd force me to apologise and re-join._

_"Okay then, that's great. So let's get to work. Get into lines, we need to work on our fitness this year as well as learning our routines." Tess shouted to make sure we all heard her._

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_"You can hear Tess bark her orders from all the way up in our changing room." Shane laughed as we looked at the girls doing some kind of work out._

_"Yeah. Poor Miley, Taylor and Mitchie." I replied and bent down to tie up my football boots._

_"Poor you as well. Latest I heard was that she's got her eye on a certain curly haired Gray." Shane teased me and picked up the bag of footballs, ready to go to the football pitch._

_"She's got no chance, she's scary!" I retorted and put my head around the door of the changing rooms, "Lads, you all ready? Better not keep Coach waiting."_

_Our team ran down the hill to the pitch, observing the people standing on the sidelines ready to try out for the team._

_Soon enough we had started the try-outs as they were called. It's pretty boring for the lads that are always going to get on the team Shane, Lucas and me but it's Coach's way of getting the strongest eleven players with a few on the sidelines as substitutions._

_I could let my mind wander as I completed the simple exercises: striking, speed tests, dribbling, passing, headers and finally strength tests._

_"Okay that's all for the exercises, good work everyone. Now I want you to try a game of football so I can see what works well and what positions people play best in." Coach called and he picked eleven people to start off, signalling for me, Shane, Lucas, Jake and a few others to go on the sidelines._

_There was one guy standing with us who looked like he was about our age._

_"Hey, my names Nate, I'm the football captain. What year are you in?"_

_"Junior, my names Liam. You're seriously skilled man." He answered._

_"Thanks. How are you liking this school then?"_

_"It's cool, yeah. Got some nice cheerleaders over there." He replied with a smirk._

_"Umm yeah they're a good team. You'll see their routines soon enough."_

_"Oh I wasn't on about them being good at cheerleading. I meant they're pretty fit. Who's the one with the long curly brown hair? She's with a really tall blonde haired girl and a small black haired girl. She's seriously hot."_

_I looked in the direction he was looking in and saw Miley approaching us and laughing with Taylor and Mitchie. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists tightly to stop myself from hitting the idiot._

_"Dude, you're spacing out. Do you know her? Maybe you could introduce us. If they're as good at cheerleading as you said, they must be good in bed too." Liam laughed and checked Miley out again._

_This time she saw him do it. She looked at him disgusted and then she caught my eye. She looked… scared._

_"Don't ever talk about her like that!" I shouted as my fist collided with his face and he fell to the floor._

_I leant down and muttered. "If I even see you glance at her again you'll regret it."_

_By this time Shane had run over and had wound his arms tightly around my arms, pulling me back from doing any more damage._

_"Nate! What are you playing at?" he shouted._

_"He was talking about Miley like she was a piece of meat. The jerk deserved it." I muttered and kicked the ground angrily._

_"Whatever man, you're a physco. And you're so dumb as to let me in to your try-outs, I don't even go here. I'm from Haughton's School for Boys. So get ready to lose when you play us." Liam laughed as he held his nose. Well, at least it hurt._

_"Get out of here before you get a lot more than a bloody nose." Shane growled at Liam's last statement and finally released my arms from his hold._

_**Miley's P.O.V**:_

_"What's going on? Is this about you?" Taylor whisper-shouted to me, as I stayed frozen in my spot, unable to move due to shock._

_"I've got no idea." I croaked, my eyes on Nate waiting to see if it was over. He didn't move – he was just frozen on the sideline with everybody looking at him concerned, even the coach._

_There's an angry murmur going through the team though. Everybody heard that the boy Nate punched was spying. The players are left looking half worried about Nate and half angry at the sneakiness of the other team._

_"Umm I think the guy said something Nate didn't like." Mitchie said and ran over to Jake._

_"I'll go talk to Shane, see what's cracking off. You might want to go see Nate. You're probably one of the only people that can calm him down." Taylor suggested as she walked towards Shane._

_I nervously approached Nate, quite scared of his outburst just a minute ago. I know why he did it. I saw the way Liam looked at me and I saw Nate's reaction. His face was full of anger, disgust and an instinct to protect his friend._

_"Hey Nate. Are you alright?" I said softly as I pulled him into a hug._

_"Yeah I shouldn't have lost it like that. It's just he wound me up so much." Nate sighed, obviously frustrated with himself._

_"What happened?" I asked and grabbed his hand, pulling him down to the floor._

_"I just introduced myself to him, thinking I should be friendly to a potential new team member. And then…" Nate began but stopped and I could see the anger enter his face and his body posture once again at the thought of whatever was said."_

_"Nate, come on. You can tell me, I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to." I encouraged him and gently squeezed his hand._

_"I want to tell you. I just don't want to lose my temper thinking about it again. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you but it's going to make you feel uncomfortable. He asked me about the cheerleading team and he seemed interested. But then he was all like oh they're so fit especially the one with curly brown hair. I could just tell he treated girls like dirt." Nate explained._

_"I was disgusted enough with his lack of respect for girls. But then I realised that it was you he was on about, Miles. And it just made me crazy that he was thinking of you in any way that was less than right. I know you saw him checking you out and I saw how scared you looked. He just made me flip. And I'm glad that I injured him the stupid little sneak."_

_"Well then I want to say thank you. It means a lot that you would stick up for me like that. But if there's ever a next time, maybe we could do without the violence." I giggled._

_"You don't care that I just showed a very ugly side of me?" Nate asked, surprised by my reaction._

_"Nate, your intentions were good even if you could have gone about it better. And to think that a year ago you were heading towards being like that jerk. You're so much nicer now." I promised him and kissed his cheek as a thank you._

_I can see Taylor and Mitchie watching us mischievously but for once, I don't care. What Nate did for me was incredibly sweet and it just showed me even more that he cares._

_"Thanks for making me feel better." Nate said with a smile and got up to his feet, offering me his hand to pull me up too._

_"You better go talk to your coach and your team members and explain everything to them. I'm going to go up to my room with Taylor and Mitchie now. Night." I said as I gave him another hug._

_"I suppose I'll have to. Are you sure you don't mind me explaining exactly what he said?"_

_I nodded my head once and waved goodbye as I walked towards Taylor and Mitchie._

_"What happened Miles? Even Shane doesn't know exactly. He just said something about he was sticking up for you." Taylor questioned me excitedly when we got into our room._

_"That dude said something dodgy about me in a creepy kind of way. Nate got mad and hit him I guess. He didn't really tell me what was said; he just said that the boy was a jerk with no respect for girls. Then they found out that he was just spying for their rival team." I explained to them as we changed into our pyjamas and climbed into our beds._

_"Aww bless him that's so cute of him. He so likes you Miley." Taylor insisted and Mitchie nodded her head vigorously in agreement._

_"Guys please don't push it. Yes, I think he's sweet and you can't deny that he's gorgeous. And I do really like him. But I don't think he does like me in that way, I'm happy being good friends with him. Anyway you heard what Alex said, Tess would make my life hell if she knew I even liked him as more than a friend." I sighed as I pulled them inside the room._

_"Stuff Tess. She's on about leaving here for some fancy drama school in Paris and if she is, it's pretty soon." Mitchie informed us._

_"I don't know guys. I'll just take things one step at a time. Right now I'm shattered so please can we go to bed?" I begged them._

_"Fine!" Taylor and Mitchie agreed and I switched off my bedside lamp, sending us into darkness._

**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

OMG! You are absolutely amazing. Seriously! You got me to 100 reviews. I was so pleased when i saw it and i was determined to get my new chapter up tonight. Also i got 19 reviews for the last chapter, so thank you SO much :D

I don't think this chapters as good as others so i'm sorry, i just wanted to get it out as i'd kept you waiting for ages!

I know there was a bit of confusion last chapter as people thought chapter 10 was the same as chapter 9. it turns out i'd added my chapter 10 but then replaced my chapter 9 with chapter 10 as well. i felt like such a wally but thanks to people who spotted this mistake :P

Thank you so much to NikkyJonas & NileyxMoexLOVEx for their help with the characters. I seriously would not have this done tonight if it wasn't for these two. So all thanks should go to them.

I'd like 15+ reviews for the next update pleease - you guys have proved to me that this is possible. Silent readers - make your voices heard. it'll just make me update A LOT quicker :P

I've got some questions for you - do you guys mind me skipping parts of the day or do you find it annoying or it makes the story rubbish or whatever?  
- how many chapters do you see this story having? & if it came to it would you want a sequel?  
- this chapter i needed to get some help and opinions off some reviewers. would you mind me sending you a message asking what you think about something? this time i wanted some help deciding who should be the evil head cheerleader :P

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**_Review Replies:_**

_lcxx916 - _thank you so much for the review, i'm glad you like the story :D

_McFlyGrl _- haha i love Glee too but my friend keeps moaning at me because i record and watch it later instead of watching it straight away lol. hope this chapter was just as cute or almost as cute :)

_NileyxMoexLOVEx _- thanks for spotting my mistake so i could fix it :P & thank you for your help. hope you enjoy the chapter!

_Awalkthroughanimaganryworld_ - thank you!! :D here's what happens next x

_terzo_ - haha thank you & i was so glad they got together finally.

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_nileyfan#1_ - aww i hope he doesn't either but you never know ;) hope you liked this chapter

_Niley23 Alex_ - i'm glad you liked the chapter and the song choices :D haha everyone does seem to love Glee!

_Roseylex_ - haha when i write the Niley bits i smile to myself. but i think this chapter isn't so good :/ oooh i'm so jealous that you've seen more Glee than me :P i'm hoping that Will and the girl teacher who's name i've forgotten get together!!

_kiisuke379_ - omg wow thank you that is such a great thing to hear! hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last one then!

_niley16_ - haha i so agree with you!!

_Drpepperluvgurl34_ - thank you :D you seriously made me feel so good about my writing just when i needed it. i had to write a monologue to perform in english for an assessment and i was struggling. you gave me the confidence to get it done. i'm performing it tomorrow so fingers crossed :D

_JazzyxNileyxFizzle_ - i'm glad you liked it, hope you liked this one too!

_NikkyJonas _- aww well i feel honoured that you'd be bummed about not getting to review each chapter. i was dead slow at writing at that point because i'd had exams so i was in the stage of breaking free from school and having fun for a bit :P

_Melissa_ - thanks for your idea, i did use it a bit but obviously in a different way because a lot of people wanted to see jealousy. he's not going to admit it was jealously until later though :P i will use your idea of miley hearing him say he likes her as well!!

_..Love.._ - thank youuu :D

_100 reviews soon.. kudos!_ - i didn't realise i was near to 100 reviews until you told me! but wow!

_anon_ - haha i hope they do too!

_elisia_ - wow that please update thing was pretty impressive. i updated!! :D


	13. Chapter 12 I Have A Feeling

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 12.**_

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_"Hey bro. Rough night, hey?" Shane asked as he pulled up a chair next to me in the cafeteria and smiled at me comfortingly._

"_Just a bit. Coach really wasn't impressed last night. He's excusing me from first lesson to go talk to him. I can't help but think that I'm going to get kicked off the team before I've even got a chance to play a game." I groaned and rubbed my eyes angrily._

_I hadn't been able to sleep at all last night, the thought of what I'd done running through my mind on repeat – teasing me a bit more each time. The single good point was that maybe I had finally proven to Miley that I would do anything and everything for her. Nevertheless, even that encouraging thought couldn't tear me away from the dread of being kicked off the team and I carried on tossing and turning in bed, annoying Lucas in the process and immediately lying as still as a statue for his sake._

_At 5am I could no longer survive lying in bed motionless so I heaved myself up and pulled on tracksuit bottoms and a white vest for a morning jog. _

_It's now 7am and I've run out of ways to occupy myself. I've attempted releasing my agitation into running, I've tried to soothe myself with a long, warm shower and I've had a go at sitting silently with me, myself and my thoughts. Everything's failed._

"_Don't think like that. Coach would be crazy to do that, he knows you've got talent and nobody will lead us the way you can. And anyway, you've got to be on the team when we play Haughton's so we can kick that idiot's ass into the next century."_

_I laughed slightly at Shane's determined face. Shane's always so happy-go-lucky and easy-going. But you can see that Liam would have wound up even the most carefree person. I sighed though as I realised that Shane still wouldn't have smacked him. I'm so furious that Liam had the nerve to do and say what he did. The flashback to his previous words about Miley brought back the fierce anger and I felt the adrenaline running through my veins._

"_I'll make sure I am. And he better watch his back when we do." I laughed and high-fived Shane._

_It's not that we're bigheaded. We just know that we're way better than them. Especially now that they've provoked us._

"_That's the Nate I know and love." Shane cheered and looked at his phone as it vibrated on the table to signal that he had a phone call._

"_Hey man what's up?" Shane greeted the person on the phone and paused to listen to them. "Yeah he's right here with me in the cafeteria. He's fine we were just talking. Come down to us." He looked at me and mouthed that it was Lucas. "Alright, see you in a minute." He muttered and hung up._

"_Lucas? Why didn't he ring me?" I asked._

"_He's tried to. Twenty times apparently. He was getting worried about you when you'd left the room at 5am and hadn't returned in over two hours." _

_Sure enough, when I got my phone out of my pocket there were missed calls off Lucas._

"_Woah! He wasn't joking when he said he'd called me twenty times."_

"_No I wasn't you idiot. You had me seriously panicking that you'd gone out to find that dude and teach him another lesson. Shane you have no idea how hard it was to sleep last night with Nate here staying deadly awake and fidgeting." Lucas groaned and ruffled my curls as he sat next to me._

"_Then I'm glad that I don't share a room with him." Shane chuckled as the rest of the lads shuffled into the room looking incredibly annoyed and tired. Surprisingly Miley, Taylor and Mitchie skipped in with them and over to us. I couldn't help but notice how pretty Miley looks with her hair scraped back into a messy ponytail and no make-up. Not like most other girls. But then again, nothing about her fits into the category of typical girls. _

"_Are you three coming down with something? Or is your alarm clock broken and you think its 11am? Maybe my eyes are playing me up because you can't be out of bed before lessons have started." Shane teased them, earning himself three sharp slaps on the head, _

"_Oww! I'm starting to wish I had less violent friends." Shane whined and rubbed his head regretfully._

_Miley giggled softly and pulled me into a bear hug, whispering into my ear "Are you okay?" _

_I pulled away reluctantly and nodded at her with a bright smile, motioning for her to sit opposite me. I can see everybody's concerned looks coming my way and I just want them to stop. I'm fine. Just because I lost my temper one time doesn't make me some dangerous bomb waiting to explode._

_**Chad's P.O.V:**_

_I whistled softly as I traipsed up the driveway at Hartbridge Boarding School. I know I shouldn't be here and I don't know the reaction I'm going to face. But I really want to see Mitchie. I haven't heard from her since yesterday morning and I want to ask her to come to a party with me at one of the footballer's beach houses tomorrow. _

_However after what I heard in the changing rooms this morning I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to be here. Rumour has it that Liam came here and spied on the try-outs to see what we were up against. I didn't know anything about it and I doubt I could have stopped him but I still feel like the guilty party. Especially if they've clicked that I'm connected to Liam._

_Stop being so paranoid, they'll understand when I explain. And this shouldn't stop me from seeing Mitchie, I thought to myself._

_I took a deep breath and dialled Mitchie's number._

"_Chad?"_

"_Hey, I'm here at your school. Where are you?"_

"_Oh! I'm in the cafeteria. One second I'll just go outside, I can't really hear you in here." She replied and I could hear her shuffling outside, muttering that it's me to somebody – presumably Miley, "I'm back."_

"_Hey. Shall I come to you?"_

"_Umm Chad I don't know if that's such a great idea. Shane, Nate and their friends are here and I'm sure you've heard what happened. I don't think they've clicked that he's from your team but if you come here they will." Mitchie whispered._

"_Mitch, please. I honestly had nothing to do with what Liam did."_

"_Chad I don't think it's a good idea." Mitchie repeated and I could hear her annoyance clearly._

"_I really like you Mitchie. But we will never work if your friends hate me. So let me come and explain to them." I begged her._

"_Ugh! Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. Have you not seen the damage Nate did to Liam? And that was nothing." Mitchie gave in but not without a fierce warning._

"_Yeah, it's pretty bad. Who'd have thought Nate had it in him? But he shouldn't have been spying and it wouldn't have happened." I said as I began walking, following the signs to the cafeteria._

"_Chad it wasn't just that. He kind of said stuff about Miley and Nate didn't like it." _

"_What? Did he make fun of her?" I shouted, earning myself stares from people around me._

"_No, it wasn't like that. He thought she was hot and he said some cheap stuff. Nate and Miley are dead close so he couldn't have picked a worse person." Mitchie explained._

"_Well no wonder he didn't tell anybody that part. And now Miley won't want to go to the party I was going to invite you girls to." I groaned._

"_You're inviting us to a party?" Mitchie squealed excitedly._

"_Umm, yeah. That's why I'm here. But now you aren't going to want to go with him there."_

"_Miley might not want to. But I'd definitely consider it. Taylor's probably going to want to spend time with Shane – they finally got together." Mitchie giggled._

"_I think I should maybe hang up seeing as I'm standing right behind you." I whispered and she quickly spun around and enveloped me in a hug._

"_Hey!" she exclaimed and dragged me inside the dinner hall, which was pretty much empty apart from Mitchie's friends._

"_Does nobody eat here or something?" I joked._

"_Of course. But seeing as lessons start in about 10 minutes most people have already had their breakfast."_

"_Oh. I feel kind of uncomfortable, I'm getting a few evils." I muttered quietly._

"_I think they might have just clicked."_

"_Hi guys." I said awkwardly and waved at Miley trying to keep Nate's attention away from me._

"_Don't hi us!" Shane snapped and glared at me, "I wouldn't think you'd even have the nerve to show your face here."_

_Immediately everybody's eyes were glued on me and Nate rose from his chair slowly._

"_Nate, please don't. He's my friend." Miley pleaded with him as she quickly sprung to his side._

"_Please just listen to what he has to say before you judge him." Mitchie said calmly as she stood in front of me protectively._

"_Trust Mitchie to side with the enemy. Just because she wants a bit on him." Lucas muttered, smirking at Jake as they did some sort of victorious handshake._

"_Not everyone's like you, man slag." Mitchie retorted._

"_Can you two stop bickering enough so that we can hear what Chad has to say? The bells going to go any minute." Miley cried._

_Mitchie crossed her arms and stepped aside, letting me go forward._

"_Shane I promise you I knew nothing about what Liam was going to do, not everyone's such a douche. And Nate I don't blame you for what you did, I felt just as outraged when Mitchie told me what he'd said about Miles." I spoke calmly._

"_He's telling the truth. Shane, I'm your best friend – you know I'd never ever cover for anybody or lie to you." Mitchie whispered and Taylor laced her hand into his. I could see her whisper into his mouth to give me a chance._

"_I'll believe you this time. But dude you better warn us if you hear of any more plans." Shane finally announced._

"_Sure thing. In fact if you're up for a little bit of payback I've got the perfect opportunity." _

_Yeah, I know you're supposed to stay loyal to your school when you've got a rival. But I don't see why I should. Liam should get what he deserves and I want to help them out._

_Shane grinned happily, "What did you have in mind?"_

"_There's this party tomorrow night at some boy from the football teams house on the beach. Liam will be there. I'm just saying. I was going to ask Mitch, Miley and Taylor if they wanted to go. It would be a shame if they didn't have more friends there." I hinted and winked at Mitchie._

"_Hmm… it would definitely be a shame for them to be lonely. We should really do something to stop that happening." Shane grinned and looked back at his friends for their thoughts. The whole group was nodding._

"_I'm not sure that me and Nate going would be a great idea." Miley said unsurely._

"_I am so not going without you, Miles! Mitchie will be with Chad and if the lads are plotting something they're going to be together." Taylor insisted._

"_Mi we can just stay in the background. I'm going, if only to make sure that Shane doesn't do something he'll regret. Two Gray brothers talking with their fists is not what Mum needs right now." Nate said._

"_Okay guys, I've got to go now. See you at the party – not that I know you're going or anything." I grinned and headed back to school. I was definitely going to be late for classes and I had to think of an excuse for the lads. Nobody could know that I was here – not yet anyway._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

"_Maybe he's not so bad. But dude, we shouldn't let our guards down too much. What if he's just setting us up?" Lucas said as Chad walked away._

_"He isn't setting us up, I trust him. Anyway if we all go they won't start any trouble." Shane replied and sat back down._

_I sat back down opposite Shane, Nate and Lucas. Mitchie and Taylor took the seats next to me. Taylor smiling at Shane and Mitchie glaring at Lucas. No tension there then, I thought sarcastically. If I didn't know any better I'd think Lucas was jealous of Chad._

_"We should go shopping for some outfits for the party tonight. You up for it?" I asked the girls._

_"Derr! You don't even need to ask. Are you boys free? We could meet you for something to eat afterwards." Taylor suggested._

_"Yeah, I suppose it would be fun. I'll probably look for a new shirt for it." Shane replied._

_Nate nodded and smiled at me, causing butterflies in my stomach. "I'll give you opinions on your outfits seeing as I don't need anything."_

_"That would be very much appreciated." I grinned back, "Where were you earlier? Lucas woke all of us knocking on all our doors in a rush to find you."_

_"I just went out for a run, it's not exactly weird for me." Nate laughed, probably at the thought of Lucas running around in a search for him._

_"You may laugh now. But Mitchie wasn't laughing when she woke up to Lucas shaking her out of her sleep." Miley giggled at the constant bickering that had caused._

_"That explains why they're shouting daggers at each other right now. Guys, cut it out." Nate said, nudging Lucas._

_"Whatever dude. She's not even worth my evils. You coming to class or what?"_

_"Yeah, I guess so."_

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_School dragged on forever, possibly even more than usual because I was looking forward to shopping with Miley so much._

_It seemed like a lifetime before we were finally outside the shopping centre. It had even taken half an hour to get here on the bus because of all the traffic. I suppose that's what you get for entering the heart of the city in rush hour._

_"Okay so what's the plan?" Taylor asked excitedly._

_"How about we go off as pairs and meet at Pizza Hut at 7pm?" Mitchie suggested._

_"Sounds good. See you then." Shane said over his shoulder as he grabbed Taylor's hand and they walked off in the direction of Topshop._

_"Okay then. Are you going with Nate, Miles? I'm going to go with Jake for ice cream or something. Neither of us needs anything."_

_"Yeah. Text me if you need me." Miley replied as she slipped her arm through mine and waved goodbye to Mitchie._

_"I am officially your slave." I announced with a mock bow, "Where are we off to?"_

_"Nate stop it, everyone's staring." Miley giggled, "How about River Island? They have some pretty cute dresses at the moment."_

_"Sounds perfect."_

_We walked into the shop and Miley instantly began glancing around for any clothes she liked the look of. Soon enough, we had a collection of three outfits._

_"Miley, what about this one?" I asked, pointing to a dress that had caught my eye._

_"Oh my gosh, Nick it's so cute. I'll try it on with the others." Miley announced and she stretched up on her toes to get the dress._

_"Hey shortie, want some help?" I laughed and she turned around with her hand on her hip, faking offence._

_"Not funny Gray. You're supposed to be nice remember. So get me the dress." She giggled, "I'll be in the changing rooms."_

_I quickly got the dress and walked into the changing rooms area._

_"Miley, which one are you in?" I called as I walked down the corridor looking for any signs of Miley._

_"Over here." I heard her call and I spotted her already in black denim high-waisted shorts paired with a cotton black and white striped vest and black stilettos._

_"What do you think?" she asked nervously as I handed her the dress and sat down on a sofa opposite her cubicle._

_"It's nice. Lads won't be able to keep their eyes off your legs." I blurted out thoughtlessly, forgetting how shy it would make Miley to realise this fact._

_"Hmm, maybe not the best idea if Liam's going to be there then." Miley laughed nervously._

_"I won't let him near you, you know that right Miles?" I promised her._

_"Yeah, I know. Anyway let's get back to finding my perfect outfit." Miley replied as she swayed back into the changing room._

_I sighed and slouched back into the sofa. This is really going well when all I can do is gawp at how stunning she is._

_"You ready for the next outfit?" Miley called through the curtain._

_"Bring it on."_

_Miley giggled as she pushed back the curtain and pulled a pose with her hand on her hip and her leg bent._

_"You've found your calling Miles – you can be a model."_

_"Nope, I couldn't live with the whole no eating and you fitting around clothes instead of the clothes fitting you. It's plain stupid. But stop changing the subject, what about the outfit?"_

_I laughed at Miley's stubborn response, glad that once again she isn't vain and immature with nothing on the brain except her looks._

_"Yeah, it's great for the party. The tops pretty." I commented as I took in her appearance: tight black skinny jeans and a fitted cream ruffled vest with a flower corsage and cream ballerina shoes._

_"I love both of the outfits so far. I'm going to have to buy them all."_

_"Do you have enough money to do that?"_

_"Yeah, my dad gave me money to spend on stuff like shopping or hanging out with friends. He's pretty easygoing about it."_

_"My mum just puts money in our accounts each term and if we run out she says it's our own tough luck." I whined._

_"Maybe you think its unfair but do you really think your mum could trust Shane with an unlimited amount of money?" Miley giggled as she went back into the changing room once again._

_"Point taken. How many more outfits have you got to try on?" I called through to her._

_"Just two."_

_I watched two women a few cubicles down from Miley stare at her as she came out of the changing room in a short strapless black dress with a laced up back with a sparkly multi-coloured beaded butterfly on the hip and purple sequins surrounding the butterfly. On her feet she had put on a pair of dark purple suede heels._

_My jaw dropped as I took in her faultless bronzed legs and her tiny waist. She looks so beautiful it's extremely tempting to walk over to her and kiss her._

_Oh god, what am I thinking? She's my friend and I'm acting like I'm crazy in love with her. What if I have fallen for her? I really need to talk to Shane and fast._

_"Miles, you look absolutely amazing. Wow." I managed to stutter out as she smiled shyly._

_"Are you sure it's not too much?" she asked, twirling around slowly, teasing me even more without even knowing it._

_"No way! You would be absolutely crazy if you don't buy the dress. It's perfect."_

_"If that's what you think then I'll definitely get it." Miley smiled shyly and hugged me, "I thought I wouldn't be able to find anything. You've been so much help Nate, thank you."_

_"You don't need to thank me, it's been fun. Do you have anything else to try on?" I asked._

_"Umm yeah just some jeggings and a checked shirt. I'll just be a minute and then we can go pay. Do you need to go anywhere?"_

_"Nope, I've got a load of new clothes with me from the summer. I might go and get a smoothie from next door if that's okay while you're trying them on. Do you want one?"_

_"Oooh, can I have a strawberry and kiwi smoothie? Let me just get my purse."_

_"No need, it's my treat. I'll see you in a minute." I said as I walked out of the changing rooms and quickly pressed Shane's number into my phone as I entered the smoothie shop and got into the queue._

_"Nate! You're my saviour. Taylor is torturing me. I think we've traipsed round every girls store possible." Shane groaned and I could hear Taylor in the background telling him to man up._

_"Dude, I need your advice on something."_

_"Okay there's only one thing you would ask me for help on. And that's Miley. What have you done now that you need to fix?"_

_"The confidence you have in your brother is touching Shane, honestly." I replied sarcastically and I rolled my eyes despite him not being able to see it._

_"You just rolled your eyes didn't you?! I can so tell."_

_"Ugh! I'm starting to think I should have rung somebody else. They might actually HELP me." I exclaimed, gaining myself weird looks and a few glares from people around me._

_"Okay, sorry I'll be a good brother for a few minutes. If you haven't done anything, what's Miley done?"_

_"She's driving me crazy. But in a good way. Actually, an amazing way. She's on my mind 99% of the time and there's nothing I'd rather do than be with her. She's beautiful and she doesn't even realise it, I'd do anything for a smile or a hug from her.."_

_"Aww is my little brother falling in love for the very first time?" Shane interrupted._

_Once again I heard Taylor squeal excitedly in the background, "Who's Nate falling in love with? Is it Milers?"_

_"How does everybody know?" I groaned._

_"It's painfully obvious! Like way more obvious than Taylor and me ever were. What's finally made you admit it then?"_

_"In the changing rooms when she was trying on the clothes she just looked so perfect, so amazing. And I just realised that I couldn't bear it if she ever belonged to any guy but me."_

_"You've officially got it bad. So there's only one thing for it – you've got to put aside those doubts and go for it. Ask her to be your girlfriend."_

_"But there's no hope that she'll even consider saying yes. Until a few days ago she thought I was the most arrogant jerk she's ever known. How can she have changed her mind so dramatically to then feel the way I feel about her?"_

_"Dude, what did you think of Miley a few days ago?"_

_"I didn't know her. I guess I just went along with what the other guys thought. That she was some quiet freak with hardly any friends."_

_"And now?"_

_"Now, she's the most kind, beautiful and caring girl I've ever met. And luckily she's pretty forgiving as well."_

_"Well if your opinion can change so dramatically in so little time so can Miley's."_

_"I guess so. But how do I tell her I like her? And what if she rejects me? What if after that she doesn't want to be friends with me? What if she hates me?" I suddenly began to panic as all the negatives thoughts ran through my mind._

_"You just have to not think like that. Miley isn't the mean type. If she doesn't feel the same way she'll be gentle and she'll still want to be friends. Trust me. And as for how to do it, start by telling her exactly what you told me, it says exactly what she needs to know. Or go for the romantic bit, write her a song, go somewhere special. You'll think of something."_

_"Thanks man. I've got to go now, the smoothie person's waiting to serve me. We'll be at the food court in about ten minutes. Bye." I replied as I hung up the phone and turned to the cashier._

_"I'll have a strawberry and lime smoothie and an orange and kiwi smoothie please." I ordered and handed over the money, thinking about everything that Shane had said as I moved over to the side to wait for the drinks to be made._

_Do I want Miley to be my girlfriend? After my conversation with Shane I'm even more sure that this is what I want. To be able to hold Miley in my arms, proudly introduce her as my girlfriend to my parents and be able to talk to her about everything and anything. I've never wanted anything more than Miley._

_How do I tell her how I feel? I don't want it to just be a boring "Will you go out with me?" line. It's got to be unique. I've got to show her exactly how special she is to me. More importantly she's got to know that I mean every word that I say._

_I grabbed the smoothies off the man and walked back over to the shop Miley was in before deciding to wait outside and avoid receiving annoyed looks at the smoothies going near any expensive clothes._

_**Taylor's P.O.V:**_

_"Shane! Please tell me what that phone call was all about. I heard enough to guess so you may as well make sure I know the truth." I pleaded as he dragged me to the food court._

_After him talking on the phone to Nate I was certain that he wanted to ask Miley out. But I don't get why Shane is so unwilling to tell me about it. Maybe he's annoyed that he had to go around all these shops with me._

_"Are you angry with me? I'm sorry if I've made you shop too much. Shane please don't be annoyed with me."_

_"Taylor that's not it. If it makes you happy then fine I'll tell you. Yes, Nate likes Miley and he's thinking of asking her out. But I don't want you going to Miley and telling her. Nate wants it to be pretty memorable for her. If you tell her it ruins the surprise of the moment."_

_"I promise I won't breath a word to her. When's he going to ask her out?"_

_"I think pretty soon. But don't push him or anything Tay. Let them get together in their own time. After all, they let us figure out that we were crazy about each other by ourselves."_

_"Oh, so you're crazy about me?" I grinned wickedly and raised an eyebrow up questioningly._

_"You shouldn't even need to ask that. Of course I am." He replied and put his arm around my waist._

_I sighed with relief at Shane finally being normal with me again and I decided to let the topic drop. I'll just have to be excited for the day they get together secretly._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_After Nate left to get a quick smoothie I quickly slipped on the jeggings and checked shirt to make sure they were the right size before making my way over to the till. It's pretty boring without Nate here to joke around with and to give me comments about the clothes. The way he looked at me when I was in the dress – he made me feel beautiful and confident. Plus I have a feeling that he would always be completely honest with me._

_I know it seems stupid to spend a lot of money on clothes that you don't really need and most parents would go mental. But I have a feeling Dad will be pleased that I'm buying stuff – that will mean that I'm socialising and going out and we both know he won't argue with that._

_By the time I've entered my PIN number for my credit card there's still no sign of Nate and soon enough I'm walking out of the shop and he's made no return. I shouldn't be worrying about a grown boy but I am._

_"Hey Miles, behind you." I heard his voice call._

_I spun around quickly and collided with Nate, falling flat on my bum._

_"Ouch! We really do have to stop this. It's like our new way of saying hello." I giggled as Nate held his hand out and pulled me back up._

_"But merely saying hi would be nowhere near as funny."_

_"But it may be less painful. We'll just have to find another fun way of saying hi. I don't really want any more bruises or cuts."_

_"Fair enough. Here's your smoothie – strawberry and lime just like you asked." He recited as he handed me the drink._

_"You're my hero. Help me up from falling over and treating me to my favourite smoothie. What's your flavour?"_

_"Orange and kiwi. Want to try some?" he offered, holding the plastic cup out for me to take._

_"Only if you want to try some of mine." I replied and handed him mine._

_I took a small sip out of the drink._

_"It's nice. But nothing can ever beat strawberry and lime." I insisted._

_"Come on! Orange and kiwi is obviously just as good as it!"_

_"Never. Are we going to meet the rest of them now?"_

_"Yeah, I told Shane we'd be in the food court. He's being very dramatic and saying that he's dying from all this shopping."_

_"You've seen Shane?" I asked confused._

_"Nope, I rung him while I was waiting for the smoothies to see if they were nearly done. Do you need to go anywhere else because we've got a bit of time."_

_"Umm no I think I'm okay. I'm sure I'll find some jewellery in my jewellery box that goes with the dress. Do you think that's what I should wear to the party then?"_

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_I've just had a brainwave. I know the perfect way to ask Miley out. Now I've just got to get away from everyone tomorrow to set it all up. I don't think I'll even tell Shane what I'm going to do. He'll probably just laugh and make me blush._

_"Nate? You've totally spaced out. Hello? Earth to Nate." I heard Miley call as she waved her hand in front of my face._

_"What? Sorry, I was gorming out."_

_"Yeah I could tell. I was saying should I wear the dress to the party then?"_

_"Of course."_

_I smiled happily at Miley as we walked over to Shane, Taylor, Mitchie, Lucas and Jake all sitting at a table in MacDonald's._

_I have a feeling that this years about to get a whole lot better. And it's all thanks to Miley._

* * *

**Guuys i am SO SO SO sorry for the really late update :) I've had so much going on lately with boy trouble (so not worth it :L) and coursework deadlines - i've been staying back every school night until 5pm for Textiles work for the past month. so just a warning: don't leave your work until last minute cos it comes back to bite you in the bum & you dissapoint your Fanfiction readers :(**

**If it makes you happier with me i think this is THE longest chapter i've ever wrote on here :D An achievement i'm pretty proud of!!**

**Is everybody off for 2 weeks for Easter right now? I am. But i got no Easter eggs :O I'm off to Anglesey in Wales for 4 days to visit family friends so i'm very sorry but my next update won't be for about another week. I'll try to get it up as soon as possible though seeing as i've got some serious making up to do :D Does anybody live in Wales? Or maybe visited there?**

**Was there enough Niley in there for you? I hope so. **

**If you haven't heard of the shop River Island it's an English store that i ABSOLUTELY love :D**

**Wow! 27 reviews. that's actually amazing :D so keep it up. i'm going to say 18+ reviews for the next chapter seeing as a lot of them were anomynous reviews. if you're a silent reader - SPEAK UP :P**

**IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!!!!!!**  
**Do you want Miley to say Yes next chapter? Or is it too soon? Try and guess how Nate's going to ask her out :D If you guess right you can choose a prize like a character in the story, a sneak preview or even a say in what happens :P****_Review Replies:_**

* * *

Melissa - I'm sorry the chapter wasn't out soon :( Omg i've actually made you all wait nearly 2 months, i feel so mean! Thanks for the nice review, it means a lot :)

ItSaLoVeStOrY - It's been even longer until this one which i'm so sorry about. Hopefully i'll be able to get at least 1 more chapter out in the next week or so seeing as it's my Easter holidays (y)

Mz Fizzle - Thanks for the review, i'm guessing the story will have quite a lot of chapters. If it makes you happy i'll tell you now i could see myself writing a sequel - i've got so attached to my characters lol :P

NileyxMoexLovex - thank youuu! & never NOT answer my questions whether it's offensive or not - i'm dying to know what people think ,especially now you've said that! and i'm glad the message made you feel special as i'm sure you are. you're definitely a great reviewer :D

Mayniac - I so look forward to your reviews, they're always so hyper. and i actually did understand you xD

Alice - thank youu :) sorry i kind of failed on the update soon part. (n)

NikkyJonas - you got what you wanted - HE ADMITTED IT TO SHANE AND HE'S GOING TO ADMIT IT TO MILEY. if that's what you want of course ;) do i even need to ask? you actually scared me when i realised that 20 chapters is only 9 away. this story will soo not be finished for then :L i honestly want to carry on with it forever i have so much fun writing it and getting all these great reviews. & i'm glad you got good GCSE marks. what year are you in at school?

nileyfan#1 - aww well i'm glad you find it cool for me to acknowledge you :D if i ever need help i'll make sure to post a poll or something so you get your say :)

Niley23 Alex - i'm reaaaally sorry that i didn't update soon. feel free to tell me off in your review - i definitely deserve it :P

kiisuke379 - i don't like Tess either. evil :P so just a hint - i wont be keeping her in it long :D

Rachel - i'm sorry i don't know how to get your cool little R. but hey - we have the same name :D thanks for the review!

WeAreLoveStory - well i'm honoured to have got your biggest review ever :D hope you liked the chapter :)

emz =] - thank youu - here's the next chapter!

niley16 - i'm sad to hear you hate sequels. if i ever do a sequel i'll try and make sure it's awesome to not dissapoint you :) omg i can't believe i didn't think of Chloe Bridges - she can be Tess' evil sidekick :P

jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnx3 - im glad you think its intense - i think :P is it a good thing?

helloimmac - thanks for the review :)

iheartnileyyx3 - thank youuuuuu :D

beckyy ;] - hii! thanks :) i'm glad you liked it x

Yvonne - haha in your review you sound like Nate in this chapter when he sees Miley in her dress.

Erica - sorry i'm really rubbish with a keyboard and i dont know how to get your name like it is on the review :) but thanks for reviewing!

Elicia - i'm sorry it didn't make me update faster - but it impressed me :D i'll try and update faster for you next time because of the awesome pattern!

Bailey P - i'll try and keep up the awesomeness :P

anon 3 - haha you're right and technically i should have updated but i honestly forgot about this story what with being on a D when i should be on an A in Textiles and then a load of drama with friends and boys. so im sorry :)

nILeY lovva xp - thank youu - here it is :D

tatyana - yuup liam is a jerk and thank you xx

Izzy (aka Lizzy) - haha your review actually made me really determined to sit down and get writing a long chapter. so your begging worked :D and your threat of crying!

because7eight9 - i did try to update faster :) and i'll keep trying harder

teammiley4ever - thanks for the review - you actually made me realise that people were reading this and loyaly reviewing and they deserved another chapter. so everybody should be thanking you. unless the chapters rubbish of course. then they should blame me :)


	14. Chapter 13 Will You Be My Girlfriend?

__

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 13.**_

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_"Okay, that's great. Thanks a lot man." I spoke into the phone as I opened the door to my room and flung my jacket onto the bed, kicking the door shut behind me._

_There was no sign of Lucas and lying on the desk in the corner was a note filled with his messy handwriting explaining that he was in the gym with some of the lads but he'd be back at about 6._

_I glanced at my alarm clock to see that it was already 5.30pm. I'd gone straight from lessons out of school to arrange everything for asking Miley to be my girlfriend and I'd only just got back. Hopefully it's going to be perfect – exactly how I've imagined it._

_Just as I was about to walk into the bathroom to have a shower, I heard a loud knock on the door and Shane impatiently shouted, "Nate! Open up already!"_

_"Give me chance!" I groaned as I opened the door for him and he rushed into the room._

_"Are you all sorted now?" he asked excitedly._

_"Yes Shane, just like I told you an hour ago when you rung me to see how it was going. If you're hoping that by constantly bugging me you'll discover what I've got planned then think again."_

_"Ugh! I'm your brother and you're keeping secrets from me. It's so unfair." Shane whined and attempted to give me puppy dog eyes._

_"Yeah, they never did work on me. You just look like even more of a freak than usual. Now please will you leave me alone! I've got to get ready." I replied and opened the door for him hopefully._

_"Nate, don't be such a meanie."_

_"Aww poor Shanie." I laughed, speaking as if he were a five year old then turning back to my normal voice. "Suck it up."_

_"I hope Miley says no now." Shane retorted sulkily._

_"No you don't. In fact you're finding it very hard not to burst with the anticipation that she might say yes. And if she says no you'll probably refuse to talk for days with disappointment."_

_"So take pity on me and just tell me what you've got up your sleeve."_

_"Wait a few more hours and you'll find out."_

_Shane went quiet, thinking about what he could say, before finally asking, "Is it going to be special?"_

_"I hope so." I replied quietly and smiled widely._

_"Then I think I can manage to wait. I best go and get ready or Taylor will actually murder me. See you later." Shane decided and waved goodbye as he walked out of the door._

_I grabbed my clothes for tonight and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I let the shower run for a few minutes and warm up before stepping in and letting the water relax my muscles and wash any dirt away. I quickly shampooed my hair and washed it out before wrapping the towel around me to dry off._

_I heard Lucas bounce into the room and set his gym bag down while I got changed into my clothes and brushed my teeth._

_I walked out of the bathroom ruffling my hair with the towel to dry it._

_"Hey man, the gym any good?" I asked him as I took in the sweat drenching his t-shirt and dripping from his forehead._

_"Yeah, pretty tough session. But it's working." Lucas boasted as he tensed his muscles._

_"Whatever you say, but they're nothing compared to my babies. You should get a shower – you stink." I laughed._

_"You love it really." Lucas joked and came closer to me and opened his arms, "Want a hug?"_

_"Don't you even dare." I threatened and pushed him into the bathroom._

_"Okay, I get the hint. I'm going." He laughed as he closed the door behind him._

_**Taylor's P.O.V:**_

_I looked in the mirror at Miley and smiled happily. I had nagged and nagged at Miley to let me and Mitchie dress her, do her hair and apply her make-up tonight and she had finally relented. I know Shane told me not to interfere or anything but after all, how can this hurt? I just want to make sure Miley looks her best for such a special moment._

_"All finished." I announced and added a last spray of hairspray to her locks. I took in each of our appearances and smiled, finally satisfied after an intense four hours of preparing for the party._

_I'm wearing the new outfit that I bought from the shops the other day – a short red strapless prom dress and black wedges with my hair straightened for once and minimal make-up with scarlet red lips. I love the outfit and I feel great, even standing with such two beautiful girls._

_Mitchie has also dressed to impress in dark blue lace dress with a black satin ribbon around the waist paired with silver stilettos. Her hairs in messy loose curls with a lot of volume and she spent absolutely ages in the mirror perfecting her smouldering, smoky eyes. Chad would be crazy to resist her._

_Lastly there's Miley and I can safely say that she completely outshines us two. She's dressed in a gorgeous strapless back dress that took us ages to lace up at the back with a sparkly butterfly on the hip matched with dark purple suede heels. I've formed her long hair into relaxed waves and Mitchie has done her make-up perfectly – her skins glowing and her eyes look amazing with thick coats of mascara and a thin line of eyeliner. Mitchie quickly applied a coat of light pink lip-gloss to Miley's lips before standing up and admiring the beauty in front of us._

_Mitchie grinned at her, "You look unbelievable Miles. Ready for a night to remember?"_

_"Only if it's good things to remember." She giggled and I bit my lip nervously._

_"Guys I think we need to keep an eye on the lads. I'm all for making Liam feel uncomfortable and warning him to back off but I can't help but feel that trouble might follow and Shane will definitely get involved if it's anything to do with Nate." I explained to them what I was thinking._

_"I completely agree. Horrible possibilities have been running through my mind all day. I don't want Nate to get in any more trouble – their coach still hasn't decided whether he's going to let Nate off and Shane getting in trouble would only make things worse." Miley agreed._

_"Aww look at you two, wanting to protect your men from any trouble." Mitchie gushed and received a glare from Miley, "Okay maybe he's not your boyfriend but you're definitely best friends Miles. And I'm in the same boat as you anyway. I'm worried that Chad's team mates will find out that Chad had something to do with this and they'll make his life hell."_

_"So we've all got our doubts. How about the three of us just try and keep the three of them away from trouble at all costs?" I suggested._

_Miley and Mitchie nodded their heads in fierce agreement and I smiled with relief. I know I can count on them to help me._

_Miley looked down at her watch and her eyes were bright with excitement as she looked up at us._

_"It's time to meet the boys."_

_We all linked arms and walked down to the school gates where the boys were waiting for us._

_"Are you girls ever going to be early?" Shane teased and grabbed my hand._

_I saw Nate approach Miley and smile at her brightly but as we start walking to the address Chad has given Mitchie I can see a hint of impatience in his eyes and Shane keeps glancing at the pair like a little kid who's just won a load of sweets and chocolate._

_"It's tonight, isn't it?" I whispered in Shane's ear and nodded subtly towards Miley and Nate who are now engrossed in their conversation and blissfully unaware of the stares in their direction from other footballers._

_Shane nodded his head excitedly and put a finger towards his lips to remind me of my promise to keep silent about everything._

_Eventually we made it to the doorstep of the house Chad had told us. It was pretty huge with loud music blasting from inside and the curtains open to reveal rooms packed full with teenagers. This is definitely the place._

_Lucas chuckled loudly and opened the door. "Let the fun begin."_

_As we walked into the house I looked around nervously for Liam and his friends. Luckily there was no sign of him or anybody with any clue of who we were._

_"Ooh there's Chad." Mitchie squealed as she spotted him over with a group of guys and as if he had heard her voice he turned around and waved her over to him, "Do you mind if I go?"_

_"Nope, get over there already." Miley giggled and pushed her gently in Chad's direction._

_"Me and Tay are going to go see if there's any seats anywhere. If we stay in little groups we'll attract less attention. You alright with Miles?" Shane turned to Nate and asked him._

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

_Wow, it's so obvious that Shane is trying to get Miley and me alone so that I can ask her out. He's such a dork sometimes._

_I nodded in reply and Shane and Taylor quickly disappeared into the throng of people._

_"We're going to go get a drink or something dude." Lucas called before dispersing into the crowd with the rest of the group._

_"And then there were two." I laughed and turned towards Miley, slipping my hand into hers before adding, "We don't want to lose each other."_

_"Where do you want to head to?" Miley asked._

_I looked down at her and realised that she was wearing the outfit from the dressing rooms. Only this time with her make-up and hair done she looks even more gorgeous, if that's possible._

_"How about we go outside onto the beach? It'll be much more peaceful out there." I suggested as I winced at the deafening music blasting out of the stereo in the corner of the room._

_"Sounds like bliss. Lead the way." Miley giggled and I pulled her through the room, trying to avoid big groups where possible. The last thing I need is for somebody to notice the dude that punched one of the football stars at their school._

_The fresh wind hit my face as we walked out onto the sand and Miley bent down to take off her shoes and she went to sit down._

_"No don't sit down, let's go for a walk." I insisted and pulled her back up to her feet._

_"Aren't we supposed to be at a party? Not taking a stroll down the beach." Miley laughed and looked back at the house._

_"Well we can go back in there if you want. I'm sure we're both very keen to drink the inevitable but disgusting vodka and fruit juice cocktail and suffer the loud music combined with bad, drunk dancing." I replied sarcastically._

_"When you put it that way – let's walk. But if Mitchie and Taylor are mad at me for abandoning them then you're getting the whole blame."_

_"Of course. That is the gentleman thing to do, after all."_

_I led her down to the part of the beach I had been on earlier arranging this exact moment. We were now a pretty good distance away from the house. Miley stopped and looked at me confused._

_"Why've we come all the way down here?"_

_"There's something I really want to show you." I replied and walked over to the sea, where the small sailing boat was waiting for me. Miley quickly followed me._

_"Nate! We can't just randomly use somebody's boat. We'll just get into trouble. It's being used as well look – it's covered in candles." Miley hissed at me and tugged my arm._

_"Miley chill out. I've hired the boat. Like I said, there's something I really want to show you. And to do that we need this boat." I explained, desperately hoping that she wouldn't protest anymore._

_So far the plan is not going well. I really didn't consider the fact that Miley would be really suspicious as to why we were doing this._

_"Okay, I'll trust you. But only because I'm really intrigued as to what can be so special for you to go to all this trouble."_

_"It's worth it, I promise." I assured her as I helped her up into the boat and jumped in as well, quickly leading the boat in the direction of the destination._

_"So you'd already planned this before we got here?" Miley asked. I groaned silently – now is not the time to ask questions Miley!_

_"Yeah, there's a really great view that I want you to see. I knew that neither of us were going to be interested in the party so I figured we may as well make the most of it." I replied tactfully._

_I can't lie to Miley – she always catches on straight away. So I'm keeping it simple. Technically there is something that I want her to see._

_"What's the purpose of the picnic basket?"_

_"Well I figured that we might miss the food at the party. So to solve that problem I brought some food to us."_

_"That's sweet – if I like the food of course. How long until we get to this place?"_

_"Nearly there now. We can get off the boat and eat when we're there." I replied as I steered the boat around the corner of a cliff and into an alcove._

_I breathed in nervously and wiped away the balls of sweat threatening to drip from my forehead. Stay calm, I muttered quietly to myself._

_I focused my eyes on Miley's face to study her reaction. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the water glistening in the moonlight and a soft smile crept onto her face as she took in the cliff face behind the soft sand._

_As her eyes flickered down to the sand I clenched my hands together tightly. Three words ran threw my mind continuously – this is it._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_I gasped at the beautiful sight before me that Nate had brought me to. Much better than the party back there. But I'm still confused as to why he's brought me here._

_As I looked towards the tiny, secluded stretch of beach I noticed lanterns were surrounding a circle of sand._

_"Oh my god! Nate it's beautiful. Did you set all of this up just so we could come and eat here?"_

_"Not entirely. Look closer." Nate admitted._

_I squinted towards the light and my eyes widened with shock as I saw the sentence written in the sand – Miley, will you be my girlfriend?"_

_It dawned on me exactly why Nate had brought me here as I softly read the words out loud, absorbing the fact that the favourite dream of mine had escaped into reality. _

_"Miles please say something." Nate whispered, standing there frozen and absolutely terrified to hear my response._

_But I don't know what to say. And even if I knew what to say I don't think it would be possible for me to talk. _

_He stepped towards me and stretched my arm up from by my side before uncurling my palm and placing a deep pink gift box into my hand._

_"Open it. But just remember that whatever your answer is it belongs to you. These past few days I've been the happiest I've ever been and that's all because of you. So whether you feel the same way or not, this is a little thank you – for making me a much better person."_

_I took the lid off the box to reveal a delicate silver charm bracelet. I touched the beautiful charms one by one and finally put the box down._

_"Nate, you didn't have to buy me this."_

_"Maybe not, but I wanted to. I know you're going to need time to think so maybe we should just head back to the party now." Nate spoke, looking slightly broken at the prospect of being rejected._

_"No." I managed to croak out causing Nate's face to turn from slightly upset to completely and utterly devastated._

_"Oh!" I gasped as I realised that he had taken them as a rejection, "Nate I didn't mean that my answer was no – I meant that I don't need time to think."_

_I walked closer to him so that I was just centimetres away from his face. _

_"What you've done tonight is so amazing Nate – the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. You've made me feel so special and beautiful. Not just tonight but whenever I'm with you. I really like you too Nate. So in answer to your question in the sand – yes I would love to be your girlfriend."_

_"Really?" Nate smiled happily._

_"Absolutely." I giggled as I leaned towards him and softly connected our lips._

_Immediately I knew that I was right to say yes as I felt the fireworks erupt and explode in my stomach as Nate kissed me back. Just from this moment I can tell that this spark between Nate and me is something so deep and so special that it could be impossible to break. I feel connected to him in a way I've never felt with anybody else._

_As I reluctantly pulled away from the embrace I asked the question that's burning in my mind, "Why me?"_

_"What do you mean?" Nate asked, his forehead creased with confusion._

_"I mean there's so many pretty girls out there and you could have any one of them. So why have you picked me?" _

_"Because there's no other girl like you. You're so incredibly beautiful that whenever I see you it makes me speechless. And you're completely unaware of the spell you have over me. You're on my mind constantly and there's nothing I'd rather do that be with you. And you make me see things in ways I'd never imagine – but it's great. You've made me become the real Nate Gray – a person that people can like and my parents can be proud of. Most importantly – you're the only girl that's ever going to have the power to hold my heart. Which reminds me, there's a final charm for your bracelet. I got it for if your answer was yes." Nate said as he took a small sparkly silver heart out of his pocket and attached it to the bracelet. "It's to show that I've given you my heart."_

_I blushed deeply at everything that Nate had said to me as I held out my wrist for Nate to put the bracelet on._

_"Do all of the charms have a significance to us two?" I asked him curiously as I hugged him tightly._

_"Of course. Let me just get the picnic basket and we can go sit in the sand and I'll tell you while we eat." Nate suggested as he picked up the basket and a blanket and jumped out of the boat onto the sand before holding out his hand to help me down._

_"Thanks. Didn't know you were a secret gentleman." I grinned._

_"Only for you."_

_"Glad to hear it." I giggled as I sat down on the blanket that Nate had lay down and watched him take out the food he'd prepared: cheese and bacon pasta, salad, cookie dough ice-cream and a half and half smoothie._

_"Now this looks like a feast. What are the smoothie flavours?" _

_"Our personal favourites: strawberry and kiwi with orange and lime. The pastas not hot though – I kind of overloaded the basket with ice packs to keep the ice cream edible."_

_"You worry too much." I laughed and dug into the food. "Come on then, talk me through the meanings of the charms. Start with the smoothie cup."_

_I looked at my wrist and examined the detail of the smoothie cup – he had even got the cup with half red crystals and half orange crystals to be our favourite flavours._

_"It's just a memory from a really fun day – the day I realised I'd fallen for you. When I left to get drinks I wasn't even thirsty, I just wanted to talk to Shane about what I was feeling. So that's why that's on there."_

_I moved onto the next charm along – a silver metal music note._

_"What about this one?"_

_"It's a memory of us singing together for the talent show – so long after we performed you'll look at the bracelet and remember it."_

_"Aww that's really sweet. What about the sailing boat? Is that to remind me of tonight?" I asked as I looked down at the blue and silver crystal sailing boat, identical to the very one Nate had hired._

_"Exactly. I want us to remember every single detail about tonight. Especially as I have a feeling our friends are going to make us tell them it all." Nate laughed._

_"Probably. What's the message behind the star?"_

_I twirled the gold metal star in my fingers thoughtfully; this is the only one that I can't guess at as to why he's included it._

_"Oh! It's to symbolise us as the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, in the English play. Plus you're my star. And I think you're destined to become a star when you're older with your voice." Nate explained._

_The blush crept into my cheeks again and I looked down at my lap shyly. Even though he's officially my boyfriend it still feels awkward to receive compliments from him._

_"Moving on from that one, should I take offence at the first aid sign?" I laughed loudly as I admired the beautiful red jewels in the first aid sign, knowing exactly why he'd included it._

_"It depends if you mind a daily reminder of the fact that you're clumsy. I had to include it, after all the first time we actually spoke was when you collided with me and nearly fell over." He replied cheekily and I punched his arm lightly._

_"It's not always my fault!" I protested and looked at the next charm – a sterling silver iphone charm with pink and blue jewels and glitter on it, "Why'd you include a mobile phone?" _

_"It represents that night at the Indian restaurant when we were texting each other across the dinner table. That's a very important night to us – it's the first chance we had to get to know one another."_

_"I'm glad you put it on then. That's the first time I saw the nice side of Nate Gray. What's the clock about?"_

_"It's because you, Taylor and Mitchie seem to be incapable of ever being on time." _

_"It's a gorgeous charm." I replied as I glanced down at the mixed gold and silver clock with diamonds where the times should be._

_"I'm glad you like it. You want to know about the smiley face next?" _

_"I more than like it – I love it. They're all so amazing and thoughtful."_

_"This one's not exactly deep. It's just because you've got the most amazing smile and whenever I'm with you, you never stop smiling. Actually I think your new nickname's going to be Smiley Miley."_

_"Smiley Miley it is." I laughed as I looked at the yellow metal charm with a vivid red smile and aqua blue eyes, almost exactly the same shade as my eyes, "What does the butterfly resemble?"_

_"Your beauty obviously." Nate smirked, "But then there's the soppy reason that you cause butterflies in my stomach."_

_"Nate I think that is the sweetest thing ever." I smiled and traced the gold butterfly with different coloured jewels in it._

_"You're going to make me really embarrassed in a minute." He groaned._

_"Then it's a good job it's just the two of us." I giggled, "I'm guessing the letter M is just because it's the first letter of my name. So what about the horseshoe? _

_I skipped over the silver diamond letter M and traced the delicate pattern of the metal horseshoe._

_"Horseshoes are a symbol of good luck. So in a way this is your personal lucky charm."_

_"Then I'll never take it off – I need all the luck I can get." I giggled and moved closer to Nate as the fierce wind caused a wave of shivers down my arms._

_"Are you getting cold?" Nate asked as he wrapped his arms around me._

_"Not anymore." I smiled as I buried my head into his chest._

_"Maybe we should get back to the party now. I bet Taylor and Shane are going mental right now if they've realised that we've been gone for over an hour." _

_"We've really been out here for over an hour?"_

_"Yeah, time flies so quickly when I'm with you." Nate grinned as he pulled me up and wrapped the picnic blanket around me to stop me from getting cold. I really should have brought a cardigan. But then again I wasn't warned that this was party of the night's plan. I'm glad it happened though._

_Nate bundled the empty tubs and cups into the picnic basket and picked it up before grabbing my hand and leading me towards the boat._

_"I've just got to blow out the lanterns and bring them back to the boat. Can you pass me the torch please? It's on the bench." Nate asked as I handed him the torch and he quickly ran back to the lanterns._

_As he one by one blew them out and pulled them out of the sand I sighed happily. Nate's now my boyfriend. The boy that I haven't been able to shake from my thoughts is finally mine. And the thought and effort he must have put into making the moment special is incredible. How many girls can say that their boyfriend hired a sailing boat with a picnic and then gave them a charm bracelet? Never mind the stunning alcove and writing in the sand._

_Nate finally got back to the boat and he immediately started steering us back to the beach we had first been on._

_"Nate?" I whispered as I walked over to him._

_"Yes?"_

_"Thank you." I smiled as I slipped my hand into his and leaned my head on his shoulder._

_"What for?" _

_"For making tonight the most special night of my life."_

_"That's okay. But you made it much more special." Nate insisted._

_"How's that?"_

_"You said yes." He grinned and kissed my forehead before wrapping his arm around my waist._

_"I could never have considered saying anything else." I admitted._

_"Then I'm officially the luckiest guy on this earth. We're back now. There's Taylor and Shane sitting on the shore." Nate smirked at the sight of the two lovebirds cuddled up together with their feet in the water._

_"They're so sickly sweet you just want to go over there and splash them with water or something." I laughed._

_"I wouldn't be calling them anything right now Miles because they're going to be saying exactly the same to us. But you do have a genius plan there." Nate grinned wickedly._

_"How about we just shock them or something? I know if I was Taylor I'd be really upset if my dress and make-up got wet." I suggested._

_"Okay then, they might not react so badly then either." _

_I grabbed Nate's hand and we quietly snuck up behind them, careful not to make any sound to give us away. As soon as we were behind them I stuck my thumb up at Nate to signal that I was ready._

_"Boo!"_

_Surprisingly it wasn't Taylor but Shane that let out a girlie, ear-splitting scream and it was Taylor that simply jumped a little and turned around to see who it was._

_"Oh my gosh! Shane, you're face was priceless." I managed to say before exploding into hysterical laughter. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Taylor heroically trying to keep a straight face before finally giving in and joining Nate and me._

_"Oh you two better run because I am ready to kill you." Shane hissed as he quickly stood up from the sand and brushed himself off._

_"Wait! Shane just hang on for a second and look at Miley's and Nate's hands." Taylor interrupted, pointing at our intertwined hands and smiling knowingly at me._

_"Huh?" Shane asked and looked confusedly at where Taylor was pointing, "Ohhhh."_

_"So you're together now then?" Taylor asked bluntly._

_"Umm... yeah." Nate replied shyly and squeezed my hand nervously._

_"About time." Shane laughed and ruffled Nate's curls._

_"Oh, now you're the one that better run." Nate threatened as Shane laughed and walked backwards while pulling faces at Nate._

_"Do you mind if I just go knock some sense into my idiot brother?" Nate whispered in my ear._

_I nodded yes and straight away Nate ran at Shane causing Shane to let out a high pitch squeal and run away as fast as he could._

_"Will they ever change?" I giggled and linked arms with Taylor as we walked back up to the party._

_"I'm starting to have my doubts." Taylor laughed, "But that's not what I want to talk to you about. I want to know exactly what just happened."_

_"Taylor it was so much more than you could ever imagine. He was so romantic. He'd hired a sailing boat and he'd got a picnic and he took me out to this little alcove. When we got there he'd written in the sand Miley, will you be my girlfriend? surrounded by lanterns. I was literally speechless. Then he gave me this charm bracelet and it's so thoughtful – all the charms resemble something important to do with us." I gushed as I held out my wrist for Taylor to look at._

_"Wow! I always knew Nate would do something special but that's just... wow!" Taylor replied and admired the delicate charms on the silver chain._

_"You don't think I was wrong to say yes, do you? I mean I know we've not really been close for long and there's going to be a few people that try to ruin it. But I really like him and tonight he proved that his feelings are completely genuine. After I'd said yes he even gave me a heart charm to add to the bracelet to show that he's given his heart to me." I babbled._

_"Miles, you'd have been crazy to say no." Taylor reassured me and hugged me excitedly._

_"I'm glad you think so. No matter how crazy I am about him I don't think I could be with him if you disapproved. It just feels so perfect now, you know?" _

_"I'm really glad Miles – you totally deserve happiness. And if he even dares to hurt you in the slightest he'll have Mitchie and me to answer to." Taylor laughed._

_"Speaking of Mitchie, should we go inside and find her? I haven't spoken to her since we first got here."_

_"Yeah, she'll want to know that you're with Nate straight away. We should make sure nothings cracking off with Liam as well." _

_"Good idea, I think Nate and Shane went inside anyway." I replied as we walked in through the doors to the worst scene possible – Lucas and the others in a heated discussion with Liam and his friends with Mitchie frozen in a corner. A big crowd was starting to form around the two rival groups. I quickly looked around for Nate and Shane, feeling a wave of relief as I saw them standing safely to the side in the crowd. For the moment at least._

_"What's going on?!" I whisper-shouted to Taylor._

_"I've got no idea. Do you think it's possible for us to get to Mitchie?" Taylor replied._

_"Umm we can try. Stay holding on to my hand." I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her through the maze of people towards Mitchie, earning ourselves dirty glares and annoyed grumbles._

_"Mitchie? What's happened?" Taylor asked her as we stood on either side of her._

_"I don't know, it all happened really quick. Lucas and Jake came over to talk to Chad and then all of a sudden Liam was there and he recognised them. They started throwing digs at each other and soon enough all the players of both football teams were there except Nate and Shane." Mitchie explained regretfully, as if she were blaming herself._

_"Mitch it was an accident. I doubt we would have got out of her without it happening. I mean after all if they didn't come here to warn Liam then why did they?" Taylor reasoned with her._

_"Hang on a second, where's Chad now?" I asked._

_"He's with Liam in their crowd I think. I don't think they've got any idea that he invited them." Mitchie muttered quietly to us and I could see the hurt in her eyes that he hadn't quickly got out of there._

_"I'm sure he'll be fine." I assured her._

_"What if it comes to a fight? What if he actually sides with Liam?" Mitchie panicked, voicing the worry that both Taylor and me were thinking but didn't dare to speak out loud._

_"I honestly don't know the answer to that Mitchie. Let's just hope it doesn't get to that. I'll go over to Nate and see if they can do anything." _

_"We'll go with you. It's best to stick together." Taylor decided and once again we pushed ourselves forcefully through the crowd._

_Once we were with Nate and Shane we could clearly hear what was being said._

_"I said what the hell are you idiots doing here at my party?" Liam hissed. _

_"Just dropping by. Wanted to let you know that if you pull a stunt like the one the other day you'll get more than a nose bleed. You got off lightly." Lucas smirked._

_"I notice Nate's not with you. Didn't want to show his face after he got kicked off the team?" Liam laughed._

_"Actually I'm right here. And I'm still in the team, unluckily for you." Nate interrupted as he walked towards Liam angrily._

_"Shane! Stop him please." I begged him._

_Shane looked at Taylor anxiously, asking her with his eyes if it was okay to get involved._

_"Shane it's okay. Go help your brother." Taylor smiled and I grabbed her hand tightly._

_"Where's the slut then? Is she here with you?" Liam mocked._

_"Dude, shut up now." Shane threatened him and subtly pulled Nate away from Liam._

_"Why don't you make me?" _

_"Gladly." Lucas muttered under his breath._

_Chad stepped forward and put his hand on Liam's shoulder. "Dude, calm down. You don't want trouble here."_

_"Why are you so keen for there to be no trouble? You'd think these were your friends or something." Liam laughed._

_"Yeah right." Chad replied coldly causing Mitchie to gasp slightly, "I just think we should fight this battle fair and square on the football pitch."_

_"Mitch I'm sorry you had to hear that." I whispered gently._

_"It's fine. He's just got to hide it, that's all." Mitchie said, forcing a smile to more convince herself than us that this was the truth._

_Liam looked around as if he knew somebody in the crowd would give him a clue. His eyes rested on Taylor, Mitchie and me and he grinned spitefully._

_"You sure about that Chad? Because the girl you seemed very friendly with earlier is standing with a cheerleader from Hartbridge." _

_"What are you saying?" Chad asked confidently. _

_"I'm saying somebody had to have tipped them off about this party. And it's very convenient that you know a girl from Hartbridge. A girl that's here now with our rivals._

_"Dude you know as well as I do that you meet random girls at parties that you know nothing about." Chad replied shakily, showing his nerves for the first time._

_I looked at Mitchie concerned. I've got a really bad feeling that Chad is going to hurt Mitchie in the process of saving himself._

_Chad sighed and glanced at Mitchie apologetically. I gasped, horrified that he was actually going to go through with this. Both Taylor and me gave Mitchie our hands to cling to as she bit her lip, waiting for the words that were going to stab her in the heart like a dagger._

_"She's just some chick that I was harmlessly flirting with. I've never met her before and if she's from Hartbridge I want nothing to do with her again." _

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_I finally let the tears roll down my cheeks as the lies escaped Chad's mouth like they meant nothing to him. As if they didn't even pain him to say. I've never felt so naïve or betrayed as I do right now. To think that I trusted him, that I believed in him and that I fell for him._

_Miley squeezed my hand comfortingly. "I'm so so sorry you had to hear that."_

_I wiped the tears away and breathed in deeply, looking Chad straight in the eyes. I hope he sees the disappointment and the anger in my face. I hope he knows that even if he did just lie to cover his back that he can never take back the heartless attitude that hurt me the most._

_"I want to leave." I said to the girls and quickly turned my back on everybody and ran through the back door onto the beach before any more tears could fall._

_I sat down on the sand and curled my legs up to my body, winding my arms tightly around me as if they could keep me from falling apart._

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_"Should we go after her?" Taylor asked me, unsure of how to handle the situation._

_"You should go outside and see how she's doing. I just need to do something." I replied._

_I could see Taylor about to protest but I quickly stopped her, "Somebody's got to get the boys out of here. I can do that. I'll be okay."_

_"Fine. But the only reason I'm letting you do this is because Mitchie really needs a shoulder to cry on right now." Taylor gave in and walked off in the direction Mitchie ran in._

_I took a deep breath and walked forward to where Nate and Shane were standing, ignoring the interested glances at me from everybody, especially Liam._

_"We're leaving. Now." I said to Nate, Shane, Lucas and Jake and tugged on Nate's arm to pull him away, hoping that all the others would follow their lead._

_"Hey, you don't have to go. Me and you could have some fun." Liam protested._

_"Leave her alone. She's not available." Nate snapped at him and wrapped his arm around my waist protectively._

_"That doesn't mean anything." _

_"Nate he's not worth it." I warned him, "You know I'd never go anywhere near him. So just drop it."_

_Nate smiled slightly and intertwined his hand with mine as we walked out of the door, ignoring the evil glares from Liam and his loyal, brainwashed followers – including Chad._

_As we approached Mitchie I let go of Nate's hand and whispered, "I don't want to rub it in and make Mitchie more upset. You guys should just go home now. I think Mitchie's going to need some time with just Taylor and me."_

_"Okay then. I'll text you tomorrow and we can meet up." Nate replied and hugged me goodbye._

_I smiled and waved at the rest of the boys before walking over to Taylor and Mitchie who were now sitting on a wooden sun bed._

_"Hey. I told the guys to just head back to school, that we might stay on the beach for a bit longer." I told them as I sat down on the other side of Mitchie._

_"Miles you know you didn't have to let go of Nate's hand just for my sake. Taylor's already excitedly told me that you're together. She's even stolen the honour of telling me what happened. It sounds great Miles. I'm happy for you." Mitchie smiled brightly at me._

_"I just didn't want to make you upset that I've had a good time and yours has been pretty rubbish thanks to that jerk." I explained._

_"To be honest Miley it's cheered me up that my friends had an amazing night. It makes me think that tonight hasn't just been a complete disaster and a waste of time."_

_"I'm really sorry you had to go through that."_

_"I'll get over it with a little help off my amazing friends. I've just got to think positive, like at least we'd only been on one date." Mitchie pointed out._

_"Do you fancy walking back to school now? I'm getting pretty chilly." Taylor giggled._

_"You sure know how to ruin a moment don't you?" I groaned and got up off the sun bed._

_Taylor grinned as three of us linked arms and started the long walk back to our beds._

_I smiled happily as I gazed up at the stars. I've got the two best friends you could ever wish for, Nate asked me to be his girlfriend tonight and I'm starting to believe that I truly belong here._

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**A.N: Okay so here's my update. It's not my best writing in fact i think it get's worse and worse as it goes on. So i'm sorry about that, i really wanted to finish this today but seeing as i only went to be at 5.30am my brains not right. But the good point is - it's a longer chapter than last time AGAIN :P**

_**IMPORTANT: **_**I don't know where Mitchie's heading romantically anymore as i don't know who to put her with. The options at the moment are Lucas, Jake and forgiving Chad. Although i've got to say i wouldn't enjoy writing the third one so much so it might not be so good :/ So tell me in your review whether you think one of those three of you've got a better suitor :P**

**What's everyone been doing lately? I arranged a surprise meal for my friends 16th last night - it was actually amazing :D**

**There was something i saw the other day that made me really want to get this chapter out for you. I was reading somebodys story and they said they'd been nominated for an NJK award. And i was like ooh whats an NJK award so i googled it and found the website. and i found this story on the nominations for Best Crossover. I dunno how you get on that so maybe someone could explain to me? But if anyone had anything to do with that - wow, thank you :L**

**Thanks for the amazing reviews as always, 18+ reviews for the next one (Y)**

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**Review Replies:**

NikkyJonas - Ohh unlucky about the no two weeks off :( Miley didn't say no, is that a good thing? haha you didn't go too far :P

ItSaLoVeStOrY - I couldn't get it up right then - i was in Wales and my computer was back in England :L i hope i told you what you wanted to know in this chapter!

NileyxMoexLOVEx - haha even though i said it's kind of soon i couldn't bring myself to say no :D i'd feel like i was depriving little kids of candy. OMG! i so wish i was from New York :O Jealous much! Yupp we get 2 weeks for Easter - but i've got to go in for 2 days for coursework catch-up :(

Niley23 Alex - i dance too! what type of dancing do you do? :D i hope Nate was sweet and romantic enough for youu :)

teammiley4ever - aww thanks that's dead sweet of you :)

Mz Fizzle - i'm glad you liked it, hopefully there's enough Niley in this chapter too :P

Melissa - i'm glad the chapter made you smile, i'm usually sat there smiling at the screen while i'm writing happy moments :L

Alice e e e e e - lol, that's okay - i always reply :P it was quite good ganster talk but yeah you did spell it wrong (n)

Yvonne (ivvy) - it was a really good idea, i'm sorry i didn't use it - i just got what i wrote in my head & it wouldn't go away :P you have to go to school in the hols because you had snow days? :O shocking!!

Izzy (aka Lizzy) - hmm he could always buy her a dog tag later as a special event (y)

because7eight9 - it wasnt rude - everybody was thinking it, even me! you're right, homework officially sucks :L

Rachel - he did buy her jewellery! i love your name too :P

£RîÇÄ - thank you for the symbols - they might come in handy :D

nileyfan#1 - miley did say yes & i hope it was cute-romantic :D ohh i'll just get people to vote on reviews then :P and i really want to see the last song but it's not out in the Uk yet (n)

niley16 - i'm glad you like the chapter, this ones not as good so sorry :(

helloimmac - oooh where abouts do you live in Wales? :D

kiisuke379 - you were kind of right - they had a meal (picnic) :P hope you liked the chapter x

farrah fawset (haha jk) - here's the update :D

Melissa - i'm glad you liked it :) he did buy jewellery!

mileyluver4life - im glad you like it!

Ellie Belli - he did buy her something with lots of diamonds :P thanks for the review.

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**Okay i said if you guessed correctly how Nate will ask Miley to be his girlfriend then you could get a prize. So if that's you i can either send you an early preview of some of the chapter, you can have an appearance in the next chapter or next time i want the reviewers to make a decision i'll ask you. Tell me which one you choose. And i will check that you did guess right :P x**


	15. Chapter 14 Triple Date Time

_**Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 14.**_

_**Nate's P.O.V:**_

"_Nate! Wake up already."_

_I groaned loudly and rolled onto my other side, trying to block out the unwelcome visitor for as long as possible. I heard the person shuffling closer to me and lean down before yelling right into my ear._

"_NATE! Stop being such a lazy bum and get out of bed. Or else I'll tell Miley everything bad about you I know." _

_Definitely Shane. For starters nobody else could possibly be this irritating. And he's the only person that knows enough embarrassing things about me to threaten me with._

"_Shane go away now before I can be bothered to get out of my warm, cosy bed and really harm you." I groaned and pulled the pillow out from under me before forcefully planting it over my ears to drown him out._

"_Right then. I guess in a few minutes Miley will know that you would only talk to your imaginary girlfriend Pamela all through kindergarten and threw a right tantrum when the teacher sat another kid in her place." Shane replied chirpily and started to head for the door._

_At the mention of this I quickly jolted upright in bed and sent a death glare in my brothers direction._

"_You wouldn't even dare." I growled._

"_Try me." He laughed tauntingly, "And I can always tell her that you wet you bed faithfully every night until you were eight years old."_

"_Now that's a complete and utter lie Shane. But if you want to play this game I'm sure there are a lot of things that I could go talk to Taylor about." _

"_It doesn't matter if it's a lie as long as people believe it and you get all embarrassed and hot-cheeked. But fine I'll be a nice sibling and not publicly ruin your reputation. If you come to the girls room with me." Shane insisted._

"_Please tell me that you didn't come to my room and wake me just so I could go with you to the girls and hold your hand while you talk to your girlfriend." I managed to get out through gritted teeth._

"_Nope." Shane replied with an emphasis on the p, "I was thinking maybe we could do a double date later – me and Taylor, you and Miley. Come on, it'll be good fun." _

"_What makes you think I'd want to go anywhere with you?"_

"_Because you so obviously love me. Honestly, who wouldn't?" Shane boasted and pulled a pose that in his opinion is incredibly cool. In MY opinion, he shouldn't pull that move in public ever again._

"_Fine, I'll go if Miley's free. But on the condition that you never ever do that pose ever again. It's so not cool."_

"_You are soooo not down with the kids." Shane laughed and grabbed my arm and began to drag me out of the room._

"_Aren't you forgetting something?" I raised an eyebrow at Shane and motioned down to me in just my boxers._

"_Ohh. Umm, I guess you could change first." Shane said and dropped his steel grasp on my arm._

"_Wow, what a generous and sensible brother I have." I drawled sarcastically before walking back into my room and closing the door firmly in Shane's face, ignoring his protests through the door._

_I quickly pulled on a pair of dark denim jeans and a navy polo shirt before slipping on my trainers, which were carelessly flung randomly on the floor from taking them off the night before._

_I sighed at the time flashing up at me from my alarm clock planting the obvious fact that the girls were going to be so not amused in the back of my mind. I quickly contemplated just leaving Shane outside and not bothering but I decided he would only go to the cleaners and spin them a story to get them to unlock my room. _

"_Okay, we can go now. But you do know that 8am is not a great time to call in to just say hey to the girls. They are going to kill us. Destroy us. And definitely show us no mercy." I groaned and knocked on Shane's head jokingly, "Hello? Is there anybody in there at all?"_

"_The girls will be absolutely fine, especially with the promise of a date with such fabulous people. We'll even pay for it and treat them." Shane replied carelessly and pushed my hand away from him._

"_What about Mitchie? After last night there's no way we can expect the girls to leave her here on her own. Is there a lad that we could take with us?" _

"_Umm... I'm sure we could get somebody. It would do her some good to get her mind of that jerk. Ugh! If I see him around I'll be so tempted to go up and punch him in the face. He's got such a nerve to treat her that way. He doesn't know what a great girl he just lost." Shane growled angrily, clenching his fists tightly at the thought of Chad._

"_Dude, chill out. Mitchie's a strong girl – I'm sure she'll be absolutely fine." I replied and biting my lip anxiously. I sure hope she's fine anyways. Things were just starting to get great in our group. Even if I have only started being friends with them this term._

"_I know but man, there's only one person who deserves teaching a lesson more than him and that's Liam. Seriously if they do anything else we're not just sitting by. Nobody get's away with hurting my best friend."_

"_Yeah I understand and if they do anything else I'm sure me and the whole team will be standing right beside you."_

_As I looked around I noticed that we'd got to the girl's door and hadn't even noticed, we were so deep in concentration._

"_Dude you're so knocking. I am not getting any of the blame for this." I laughed and pushed Shane forward to the door. _

_Unfortunately I pushed him harder than I had intended and he banged heavily in the door and crashed to the floor before uttering, "OUCH! Oops?"_

_I laughed loudly at the sight of Shane in a heap on the floor rubbing his arm and pouting up at me._

"_Sorry man, only meant it to be a gentle shove." I apologised as I pulled him back up to his feet._

"_Well if that didn't wake up the girls then they must have been tranquillised or something." _

_I immediately stopped laughing as the door flung open to reveal three angry-looking girls. I ran my fingers through my curls uneasily and Shane shrugged his shoulders at me as if to say that he had no idea how to get us out of this one._

"_Umm, hey guys?" I offered uneasily and added a wide smile, silently begging for them not to hit me._

"_What the hell just happened?"_

"_Your girlfriend – your answer." I mumbled slyly to Shane and nudged him into action._

"_Umm Nate here thought it would be clever to push me and it caused us to wake you so rudely." Shane answered, smirking in my direction._

"_Why are you guys even here at such a silly time?" Miley asked confused and rubbing her eyes fiercely to try and be more awake._

"_Shane woke me up even earlier because he said he wanted us to come down to you. And he woke me up just as badly. He shouted in my ear like a foghorn." I explained and glared at him again._

"_There is nothing wrong with getting up early. In fact it's the way forward." Shane said obstinately, "But we actually came here to ask you three girlies to go for something to eat with us and then go see a movie."_

"_No way am I going out with you two couples and having to sit through the lot of you acting all loved up. Gross!" Mitchie scoffed and turned to go back to her bed, now completely uninterested in anything we had to say._

"_No arguments Mitchie. We're all friends and that's not changing just because some of us happen to be going out." I protested._

"_It won't be like that because there's six of us going. And you know him so you'll be able to talk to him if we do pair off. Which we won't!" Shane pointed out, knowing that with these two arguments she didn't have a leg to stand on._

_Miley motioned for us to come inside and she shut the door behind us._

"_Aww come on Mitch, it'll be a really good laugh. I promise I won't even act like Shane's girlfriend. It can be a friends only trip." Taylor begged_

"_That's not fair on you guys to have to do that just for me. Honestly I'm fine staying here. I should make a start on the talent show project with Jake anyway." _

_Miley quickly added her own argument, "You can do that any day of the week Mitchie! Come on, we can watch that film we've been dying to see since it came out."_

"_If it's a slushy romance then no way!" Shane interrupted._

"_Yes way!" Mitchie shouted, "If I'm going then we're playing by my rules. Anybody got a problem with that?" _

_There was an abrupt silence to this; the girls knew that neither of us would dare argue with Mitchie. Partly because she can be very scary when she wants to be and partly because she deserves cheering up. If that means sitting through a girlie film then so be it._

"_So we're all agreed on going?" Shane asked excitedly._

"_Yup I guess so. Are we going to the restaurant or the cinema first? And how dressy should we dress?" Taylor blurted out her long list of questions and looked at us expectantly._

"_Umm... food first? Then we won't stuff ourselves with popcorn watching the film and not be hungry. And kind of casual but kind of dressy. Like something you'd wear on a first date kind of." I answered, knowing Shane would have no clue what the right answer was._

"_Perfect. You guys better go then, we've got outfits to plan and maybe even some shopping to do." Taylor squealed cheerfully and opened her wardrobe looking through for anything suitable._

"_Wait! I want to know the sixth person seeing as you're obviously planning a bit of match-making." Mitchie suddenly exclaimed._

"_Umm we haven't really decided yet. Jake?" _

"_No! The more times we go out and end up pairing off I feel like I'm leading the poor boy on and giving him false hopes. It's really unfair."_

"_Okay. How about we do a blind date? But we promise it won't be anybody ugly or someone you don't get along with." I suggested hopefully. I wasn't so keen on debating who should be Mitchie's date for hours. Especially as she'd argue with pretty much all of them and then change her mind about going. Best to be a surprise so she can't back out._

"_I guess so..." Mitchie trailed off, "But only because you guys are my friends and you know my taste."_

"_Perfect. We'll see you later then. 5pm outside your building." Shane called as we walked out of the room and headed towards the sports hall to search for Mitchie's ideal date._

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_As soon as the lads left the room all three of us started frantically looking through our clothes to find the right outfit._

"_You guys found anything yet?" Miley murmured as she flicked through her section of the wardrobe._

"_Nothing at all." Taylor groaned._

"_Me either, what about you Miles?" I asked, trying but failing to visualise anything fairly suitable._

"_Absolutely zilch. I really don't think I can afford to buy anything else though. Dad will kill me if I spend all of my allowance on clothes for every time we go out." Miley sighed and closed the wardrobe dejectedly._

"_Hang on guys, I have an idea." I exclaimed, my eyes sparkling with excitement._

"_Well spill it already girl or I'm going to go into a fashion meltdown." Taylor laughed._

"_How about we all organise the outfit for each other out of all of our clothes. We're all pretty much the same size except Taylor's taller. I mean we all think the others have fabulous clothes but our suck. So it makes sense." I suggested._

"_Mitchie, it's the perfect solution! You're spot on." Miley squealed, "Who first?"_

"_I vote Mitchie. After all she's the one that needs to look killer for her blind date." Taylor said and they both got up sifting through everything and whispering together._

_Eventually they decided on a pair of Miley's high-waisted denim shorts with a pink and white striped top tucked in and a pair of my own light pink heels. I quickly slipped them on and gave them a quick twirl for effect._

"_You're going to look knock-out." Miley grinned, "Taylor's turn."_

"_Oooh I'm dead excited. It's better than getting a new outfit, we should have done this before now. Mitchie stop trying to pull the shorts down further you look absolutely gorgeous and you may as well flaunt those pretty pins. Whoever it is isn't going to be able to keep their eyes of you." Taylor backed Miley up as she spotted me nervously trying to cover up more of my legs._

"_I guess so. Anyway, let's crack on." I decided, trying to get the attention off me._

_I'm pretty nervous about this date. What if they pick someone absolutely horrible? Or what if I fall for them and they end up hurting me just like Chad? I doubt I'll fall as hard as I did for him though. My guards going up well and truly._

_Miley picked out a cream bodycon skirt with lilac flowers printed onto it with gold studs on the side with the tag still on from Taylor's clothes and I quickly rummaged around for a matching lilac vest from my pile. _

"_Taylor do you own any lilac shoes?" Miley turned to her and held the outfit up to her. _

"_Ooh that's cute. But I don't think I do. We could always quickly pop to the shops and get a pair and have a quick snack or something when we've sorted you?" Taylor scrunched her eyes up trying to think through all her shoes._

"_Yeah that'd work. I quite need to buy a new mascara." I replied and Miley put Taylor's chosen clothes on the bed next to mine._

"_Well Miley's going to be far too easy. You have such nice clothes – your dad spoils you. I'm so jealous." Taylor laughed and hopped up to help me look._

_Taylor quickly spotted a gorgeous ruffled floral maxi dress in pink, purple and gold and I grabbed her gold gladiator sandals._

"_See! We are definitely borrowing from you more often Miley." Taylor giggled and put Miley's clothes next to ours. "Shall we get walking to the shops?"_

_The three of us linked arms as we began the ten minutes walk to the shopping centre, discussing the type of shoes Taylor was looking for – flat of course so she wasn't a giant next to us and talking excitedly about the film and who the mystery boy could possibly be._

_**Shane's P.O.V:**_

_I grinned as I burst into Nate's room with my clothes in hand and flopped onto the bed. We'd gone around all the people we thought were suitable but although people definitely liked the look of Mitchie and there was a lot of interest nobody seemed willing to actually be brave enough to step up and be her blind date. But then we found somebody who surprisingly said yes._

"_Do you think they'll be okay together?" Nate asked worriedly._

"_Of course they will. They know each other, don't they? And he said yes for a reason." I dismissed Nate's doubts. "Tonight's going to be perfect."_

_**Author's Note:**_

_Guys I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry that I abandoned this story and all my amazing readers for so long! I know there are no good enough excuses but I hope you understand. I didn't get such a great response to the last chapter at first and it took ages to get to the review goal when it usually only takes about 2-3 kind of got me a bit like "why bother" which I know is wrong because I still had those faithful reviewer. I'm sorry :[ And then I don't know where the time went but it was my last week of school and I was so busy hanging out with people and writing in everybody's leaving books I had no time for anything else. Then I had like a week left until my exams so I had to do some serious revision and these past four weeks I've done nothing but have my nose in a textbook or be sat in an exam. _

_But I've finished my exams now and I had my prom on Saturday. It was honestly one of the best nights of my lives and I've changed my profile picture to me in my prom dress so if you're interested in what it looked like – you can see it :D_

_I was going to post a big Author's Note before now to explain myself to you but I just thought it would disappoint you guys more that it wasn't an actual update and annoy you._

_I'm sorry if the chapter's not good, I've wrote it in one night so it's probably not as good as the rest. I know it's not as long as usual but I just wanted to give you guys something and hopefully I can post another chapter of at least this length in a few days. This is kind of just a set-up for the next chapter so i'm sorry nothing pretty much important has happened. Usually i wouldn't split the day in half i'd just do it all in one chapter but i really wanted to give you guys something even if it's rubbish. I will make the next chapter better and as good as the others don't worry :]_

_I understand if you don't review me for being so crap but I really hope you do. Who do you guys think Mitchie's mystery guy is? I promise I won't make you wait for long!_

_Once again – I'm so sorry I let you down :[ But on the plus side I have the whole of the summer off until September so I have loads of spare time!_

_Thanks to everybody who's reviewed the story you've all been great :D But a special mention to a few really helpful people – NikkyJonas thank you so much for sending me a message and kicking my bum into gear and caring enough to do so you've also been a favourite reviewer of mine :D,, niley16, Niley23Alex, Mz Fizzle, loveiscoming, NileyxMoexLOVEx , kiisuke379, Mayniac, itsaNileything, WeAreLoveStory, McFlyGrl, teammiley4ever, fallingstar2008, Melissa, Elisia, a big thanks it's nice to see familiar people reviewing each time with amazing comments and advice so thanks you guys can always make me smile with what you say. livinforthemusic I keep forgetting who you are because you changed your name but you've been one of the biggest helps with the _story _and your stories are fab too. Anybody I've forgotten I'm super sorry – all the reviews I've had have been fantastic._

_**Review Replies:**_

_mileyluver4life – Haha I completely agree there should be more guys like Nate!_

_Mz Fizzle – Aww Mitchie will soon be happy again don't worry :P_

_Nileyfan#1 – I'm glad you liked the way he asked her out, I wish boys were actually that thoughtful when they do :L_

_Melissa – WOW what a long review! Umm I do have a twitter but I don't really use it and nothings on it about Fanfiction ever. My friends don't really know I write. Like they know I love writing and I want to be a journalist but they don't know about this :/_

_Niley23 Alex – I do ballet and modern dancing, I have a show in a week :D Trust me, my writing just got worse for this chapter :[_

_NikkyJonas – I like you're opinion on who Mitchie should be with :P Um I'm in Year 11 in England like 15-16 year olds. You?_

_niley16 – I'm glad you liked the charm bracelet. I got the idea because the night before I wore one :D And thanks for telling me what NJK awards were :P_

_helloimmac – ooh that's cool. Well when I visited Wales it was so pretty :D thank you for your review_

_ellie belli – well if updates make you explode I hate to think what a very late update will do :L_

_because7eight9 – umm I've been shmexxi and updated for you :D_

_alice – cool cool,_

_1fde – thank you :]_

_anon – thanks, glad you liked it!_

_elicia – I actually love your reviews the way you set them out!_

_quinn – is there anything such as too cute? :P not in this story there isn't LOL_

_harriet – thank you!_

_mimi – LOL glad you thought so_

_ddyhafakb – wow you make it hard for me to write your name! :P yes he finally asked - it was about time!_

_gderfve3wcvbn – very sorry if I got it wrong :L thanks for the review_

_fallingstar2008 – happy you liked it, here's the next one :]_

_kness25 – I'm keeping writing it don't worry. I'm not one for giving up!_

_nickjonasinspires – I updated. It doesn't really say much that's happening but it's setting it up for the next chapter._

_Lifeswhatyoumakeit101 – aww glad you liked it :D yeah I'll make sure I check out your stories tomorrow or right after I upload this chapter!_

_hazelnuticecream – is that a flavour icecream? :O I've never tried it! Thank you for the sweet review :]_

_TruexLovexIsxReal – thanks for reading this, I'm glad you liked it :]_


	16. Chapter 15 Never Expected That

****

Sing Your Heart Out – Chapter 15

_**Miley's P.O.V:**_

_I sighed with relief as I finally sunk into the booth at Shakin It. After three hours of searching through every shoe store possible Taylor had finally found a cute pair of lilac silk ballet flats with a cream bow on them. So much for it being a quick errand, I thought ruefully._

_"To make it up to you this is my treat. What do you want?" Taylor asked as she brought her purse out of her bag._

_"Umm, a banana milkshake please." I replied_

_"Ooh an oreo milkshake please. And could we share a portion of curly fries or something? I'm starving." Mitchie said._

_"Coming up." Taylor laughed as she skipped up to the counter and gave them our order._

_"I think my legs are about to drop off Miles." Mitchie groaned and stretched them out, trying to relieve the pain._

_"Tell me about it! It feels like I've run a marathon." I laughed as Taylor returned to the table slowly with the tray in her hand, carefully avoiding any obstacles._

_"Here we go." Taylor announced as she placed the drinks on the table and Mitchie immediately grabbed a few fries._

_"Who do you think your blind date could be then Mitchie?" I asked as I took a sip out of my drink._

_"I'm really not sure. I mean it could be absolutely anyone at the school. I bet you they've just run around the whole of the campus looking for a boy that's my type. As long as it's not Jake I'm fine."_

_"What's so wrong with going with Jake though? You guys are like best friends. Maybe not how close me and Shane were but you're definitely good buddies." Taylor asked, confused as to what Mitchie's problem was._

_"It's not that I don't like him – he's a great person and I really get on with him. But the problem is he likes me in a different way to how I like him and the more us two pair up on these dates with you four the more mixed signals he's going to receive. I just don't think it's fair on him to put him through that."_

_"Yeah I suppose, maybe when we do something a bit more casual he can come along and that way he won't take anything from it." I suggested and put my empty cup on the table and turned to watch Taylor who was making some very peculiar noises._

_I giggled happily as Taylor sucked loudly on her straw trying to get to the last few sips of her strawberry milkshake._

"_Do you always have to make such a noise when you do that? Everybody's staring at you." Mitchie laughed and looked around at the tables next to us._

_Sure enough, people were giving Taylor some weird looks._

"_They'll get over it. They're just jealous of our milkshakes obviously." She shrugged and placed her empty plastic cup next to ours._

"_Of course Tay." I smiled my at friend's dismissal of people's obvious annoyance. Her and Shane are so similar it's unbelievable; they're so incredibly embarrassing when we're out in public with the two of them._

"_Should we be getting back? It's nearly 3pm." Taylor said as she glanced at her watch quickly._

"_Do you think we could get a taxi? I'll pay for it but seriously I don't think my feet could take anymore. We've been traipsing around looking for shoes since 11am." Mitchie insisted and searched through her phonebook for the number of our local taxi firm._

"_I guess we could. It'll only be about £5 to nip us back to school. Someone can just run up to the room and get some money seeing as Taylor's spent all of hers and we didn't bring any." I laughed and Mitchie quickly rung the company._

_We walked outside and sat on the steps by the entrance at the promise of an arrival in a few minutes. Sure enough, a bright yellow taxi pulled up next to us and the three of us clambered into the back._

"_Hartbridge Boarding School please" Mitchie said._

_I looked out the window as we started driving and spotted the beach where Nate had taken me the other night and the other beach where us girls had sat the other night. This place holds so many great memories for me now – who would have thought that Miley Stewart would now love Hartbridge and want to be here? What a change of heart from last year._

"_Okay girls we're here. That's £4.50 please." The man called through to us as he came to a sudden stop, pulling me out of my thoughts._

"_Is it alright if I just run up and get the money please? I'll just be a few minutes." Mitchie asked._

"_Yeah sure, go right ahead." The man smiled and got out of the car, leaning against the side and enjoying a rare few moments of the sunshine._

_I stepped out of the car and held the door open for Taylor and we both lay down on the grass next to the taxi, Mitchie would only be a few seconds but it doesn't hurt to make the most of the heat._

"_Excuse me but your friends been gone for more than a few minutes." The man walked to us looking quite concerned, not just for his money but also for Mitchie._

_I looked at my phone and realised that she'd been gone for nearly ten minutes. "Oh, I'll go try and find her on my way to the room. I'll bring the money down if I can't find her." I said and ran to our building._

_As I got to our room I saw Mitchie with her back to me talking to somebody._

"_Mitchie, what are you doing? We've got to be at Nando's in just over an hour and the taxi's still waiting for the money." I called as rounded the corner to our room, seeing Mitchie deep in a conversation with her back turned to us._

_As she turned around however I saw tears threatening to fall from her eyes and her cheeks red with anger. _

_**Mitchie's P.O.V:**_

_I quickly walked up to our room to get the money; we only have just under on hour and a half for the three of us to get ready for our dates tonight. I quickly skidded to a stop as I saw Chad sitting on the floor outside of my door and my heart started thudding heavily. _

"_What the hell are you doing here?" I managed to get out through gritted teeth and unlocked my door to get the money._

"_Mitchie I really need to explain to you about last night. I didn't mean to upset you but surely you understand I had no choice." Chad explained, hovering in the doorway like a bee you just want to swat away._

"_That's rubbish. You did have a choice but you chose the easy way out. And it was the wrong choice. So I think you should leave." I calmly stated as I rolled my eyes at his worthless apology and grabbed a £5 note out of my purse, shutting the door behind me and beginning to walk away._

_Chad grabbed my arm tightly and spun me around to face him. _

"_Chad get off me, you're hurting me." I cried, tears forming in my eyes._

"_Then let me make things okay." _

"_You can't just make things okay Chad. Last night proved to me that you're just like every other guy. You'll lie, you'll hurt people who care about you and you'll do anything just to fit in with the popular crowd. Well that's not somebody I want to be with. And no matter how many times you tell me you're sorry and you won't do it ever again and maybe you'll even tell Liam the truth I know you won't. So there's no point. You said the other night you never wanted anything to do with me again. And I'm saying it now – I don't want to see you ever again. Maybe you were lying but I'm telling the absolute truth." I shouted._

"_Mitchie I'm begging you please, I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll do anything." Chad begged, still gripping onto my hand tightly. I winced as I thought of the red mark that it was going to leave._

_I heard footsteps behind me and I closed my eyes, praying it was somebody who would help me._

"_Mitchie, what are you doing? We've got to be at Nando's in just over an hour and the taxi's still waiting for the money." Miley's familiar voice called down the corridor, instantly comforting me and making me confident that it was going to be okay. Chad would listen to her._

_I shook my hand out of his grasp, easily now that he was shocked and a little intimidated by her appearance and turned to face Miley. Her eyes filled with concern as she saw the unhappiness illustrated in my expression and then her eyes darkened with anger as she saw the cause of my tears._

"_Chad! How dare you even have the never to show your face here after what you did." Miley growled and took my hand comfortingly._

"_I just wanted to say sorry." He muttered miserably._

"_Yeah? Well you've said it and Mitchie doesn't want to hear it. So leave quickly and I suggest you do it before any of the boys see you." Miley said coldly with a subtle threatening tone to warn him that if he didn't do it she would get them._

_Chad looked at the two of us angrily and stormed off down the corridor and turned with a quick smirk, "This isn't over." _

_Miley pulled me into a fierce hug until I pulled away and gently._

"_I'm fine Miles, just a bit angry." I whispered and smiled reassuringly at her. "We best take this money down to the man. I bet Taylor's going mental, especially if she sees Chad leaving." _

_I giggled at the thought of Taylor marching up to him and giving him a piece of her mind. He definitely wouldn't forget her words for a long time._

"_I'll run the money down, you go inside and get ready. I'll go give the money to the man and fetch Taylor." Miley said._

"_I don't think I'm going to go tonight Miles. Chad's completely put a dampener on my mood and I don't want to spoil your night." _

"_Don't be silly Mitchie. Tonight's just what you need to cheer yourself up and forget about Chad. Show him he's not worth your time and energy. Plus you can't let your mystery date down now." Miley insisted._

"_I suppose it's worth a shot. But you only have yourself to blame if I have a miserable time and ruin it for you guys." I warned her, biting my lip anxiously._

_Miley shook her head at my words and ran off in the direction she came from._

_I sighed loudly as I walked into the bathroom and started the shower running so that it would nice and hot by the time I got in to truly relax. I locked the bathroom door and stepped into the shower letting the warm water running down my body, slowly loosening up my tense muscles and washing any dirt away. I carefully rubbed shampoo into my long hair and took great care to rinse it all out. I wrapped the towel around my frame and patted myself dry before stepping into my clothes for tonight and looking into the mirror. I smiled at my reflection; admittedly I do look really nice in the selected clothes._

_By the time I got out the girls were both dressed in their clothes having already showered that morning and they grinned at me widely before firmly sitting me down at the dressing table._

"_We are officially making you look absolutely gorgeous to make sure you're date cannot keep his eyes off you tonight." Taylor insisted and grabbed the hair straighteners, which were already ready to use. They'd obviously planned in detail what they were going to do while I was in the shower._

"_Not that you don't always look beautiful because you do. We're just making you extra beautiful." Miley added quickly._

"_Guys you really don't need to do this…" I began to protest._

"_No arguments! Now sit still and enjoy." Taylor giggled as she began to curl my hair into loose tumbling curls._

_Miley immediately got to work on my face applying a little touch of foundation and concealor before adding a bit of bronzer and thick coats of mascara. She then applied a thin line of grey eyeliner under my eyes and finished with a light pink lip-gloss._

"_Ta da!" they both sung as they finally let me look in the mirror. Despite my protests I knew they would do a really good job._

"_Thanks guys, it looks really nice." I complimented their work and grabbed my handbag and put my phone, key and money into it before being bustled out of the door to meet the boys._

_I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as we walked down the stairs to the exit. My watch told me that we were five minutes late so the boys were bound to be waiting for us. Argh! My date's waiting right outside that door for me._

_Miley pushed open the door and gave me a comforting smile. "Mitchie it's going to be absolutely fine. The boys won't have got you a bad match. And even if you don't get on you've still got us girls. Now you first."_

_I took a deep breath and nodded to everything that she was saying before bravely walking out of the door to see… Lucas._

_I walked over to Nate and Shane hugging them both at the same time and muttering in their ears, "Do you know how much we argue?"_

_Nate quickly whispered back, "Well he seemed really happy to be your date so we just figured it was perfect."_

"_He probably wants to rub it in my face that I'm dateless and Chad broke my heart you idiots." I hissed._

_Shane shook his head vigorously, "No he was really genuine. Just give him a chance, okay? He's a nice person deep down."_

"_Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." I sighed as I smiled at Lucas and gave him a hug so as not to be rude. It was a nice friendly hug, which caught me off-guard, and the smile he gave in return was actually different to the usual smirk I receive off him on a daily basis._

_The walk was fairly short to the restaurant which I was pretty relieved about because to say thing's were slightly awkward would be the understatement of the year. Miley quickly linked arms with Nate giggling and the two of them had walked off happily in a world of their own. Shane had immediately put his arm around Taylor but had lingered back with us to nosily observe any progress between us. _

_I glared at him pointedly and turned back to Lucas who was walking casually beside me, occasionally scuffing his feet and causing dust to fly with his hands in his pockets awkwardly._

"_So… you watching the world cup much?" I asked, hoping to break the ice and break it quick._

"_Yeah, whenever I've got time in between actually playing football and all this annoying school work." Lucas replied, finally talking about something he had a genuine interest in, "Are you watching it?"_

"_I'm trying to but it's hard to fit it around everything. Who's your favourite team?"_

"_Well of course I'm cheering for England, after all that's where we live. But as soon as they're out it's Brazil all the way for me. I'm not a fan of losing." He laughed and surprisingly I found myself laughing loudly with him, catching Shane's knowing smirk in the corner of my eye._

"_Well that's just silly. Spain all the way for me and I actually have a good reason – my mum's from there." I replied and stuck my tongue out at him._

"_Well that explains the dark skin." He laughed, looking down at my tanned legs causing me to blush slightly._

"_Are you two finished flirting yet?" We're here." Nate smiled as he motioned towards the door he was holding open._

"_We're not flirting dude." Lucas mumbled, clearly embarrassed and followed me over to the private table where Taylor, Miley and Shane were already sitting._

_Yeah, of course this isn't a proper date, I thought to myself sarcastically as I sat in between Miley and Taylor where they had saved me a space. As I looked up I noticed that the boys had not so subtly placed Lucas opposite me. I smiled slightly at my friend's efforts to get me happy again. Shame it's not going to work._

"_So, what's everybody having?" Shane asked happily._

"_I don't know, maybe it's a good idea for us to actually look at the menu first." I replied sarcastically and grinned widely at him._

"_Hurry up them, I'm starving Marvin." He groaned._

_I quickly read through the menu before deciding on chicken breast fillet strips in mango and lime. Everybody else chose their meals and Shane swiftly hopped up and ran over to the counter to place the order._

"_Wow, somebody overdosed on happy pills." I rolled my eyes and glanced pointedly in Shane's direction. The rest of the table laughed loudly as they saw him talking animatedly to the person serving him. _

_Shane skipped back over as soon as he had finished annoying the member of staff and sat back down. The conversation quickly changed to the school play and the talent contest. I groaned loudly at the mention of both of them._

"_Whoa! What's your problem with them?" Lucas asked and everybody turned to me waiting for my answer._

_Truthfully, one of the main reasons is Jake. It means spending more and more time with him especially as we've been paired together for the talent show._

"_Umm…" I started, trying to think of a better excuse, "It's just going to take a lot of time and effort, I just wish we could relax a bit more this year before we start having to work towards exams."_

"_It's not about Jake is it?" Taylor asked, seeing right through my lie, "Surely he's not that bad."_

_I looked at Lucas and bit my lip, not wanting to say anything about it in front of anybody who might repeat what I say to anybody else and especially not Jake himself._

"_Mitchie I promise I won't say anything to him if that's what you're worried about." Lucas promised, obviously noticing my worried glance in his direction._

"_He is that bad Tay. If I'm friendly with him and I simply smile at him politely he'll beam back and start a huge conversation with me. He's way too keen. And if I try to avoid him to avoid disappointing him he get's all upset and like a wounded puppy. I can't deal with it." I explained, hoping not to sound like too much of a bitch._

"_I get you. It's definitely off-putting when somebody you don't even like in that way is so eager. I've been there, done that and I don't plan on going back." Lucas said before anybody could even protest against my thoughts._

"_So what did you do?" I asked, hoping that Lucas had the perfect solution._

"_I was kind of an idiot to her. Ignored her, avoided her, was monosyllabic with her if I had to speak to her. Looking back I was way too harsh and I regret it but I was so desperate to get it through to her." _

"_Kind of?" Miley laughed, "More like absolutely."_

"_Well I wish I could bring myself to be like that with Jake. But he's way too nice of a person to deserve that and I class him as my friend. I'm going to have to cling to the hope that he finds a girl who feels the same and very soon." _

_At that moment the meals arrived and the waiter quickly placed our plates down, avoiding eye contact with Shane. Of course, it was the person who had taken the orders._

"_Shane, what did you say to that poor man? He couldn't wait to get away from this table." Taylor giggled._

"_Oh I was asking him if he ever picked up any girls working here. He seemed a bit embarrassed." Shane explained, earning a gentle slap from Taylor, _

"_Oh I didn't mean it like if he did I'd want a job like that. I was just trying to make conversation." He quickly added, earning laughs from Nate and Lucas._

"_Glad to hear that or we would have had to hurt you." Miley teased._

_I looked up to the door as I heard a loud noise, presumably a lot of people entering the restaurant. My eyes widened with disbelief as I saw Chad, Liam and a few of their friends following a waitress over to a table in our direction._

"_Are you alright Mitchie? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Lucas asked worriedly as he took in my pale face and wide eyes._

"_This can't just be a coincidence." I murmured softly and tears prickled in my eyes. Why does he have to be everywhere to rub it in my face?_

_Miley's eyes looked up to the direction I was facing and she grinded her teeth with anger. "I can't believe it. What the hell is wrong with him?"_

"_What's going on?" Nate asked, unaware of the people just about to walk past us._

"_Chad's just turned up with Liam and a few other friends. He's just about to walk past us now." Miley muttered quietly._

_Nate and Shane's heads snapped up from their meals and looked around at them, their eyes narrowing with suspicion._

"_Did they know we were going to be here?" Shane asked with a confused but annoyed expression on his usually calm and friendly face._

_Miley nodded miserably, "We caught a taxi back from the shopping centre earlier and Mitchie went up to the room to get the money. But she was taking ages and I ran up to see what was taking her so long and I shouted out to her that we had to get to here soon. Then she turned around and I saw Chad was with her. I'm so sorry Mitchie."_

"_Miles, it's not your fault Chad pulled this stunt. You can't be responsible for his behaviour."_

"_I know but it's my fault he even knew," she whined, "But I didn't think he was capable of being this malicious."_

_Nate grabbed her hands comfortingly, "Miley, don't be so hard on yourself."_

"_I'm not, but I'm not going to sit by and let Chad do this, especially not to my best friend." She stated angrily, tapping her fingers on the table thinking about what to do._

_She quickly stood up, shoved her chair back under the table and stormed over to where Chad was now sitting laughing and joking like he hadn't done such a low thing. We watched with anticipation as Miley grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the restaurant, leaving both our tables in a deep state of shock and nervousness._

"_Umm… does anybody want dessert?" Shane asked uneasily._

_Nate shot him a withering look, obviously thinking about what was going on between Miley and Chad and opened his mouth to reply._

"_Don't even think about arguing. That way Chad's won and we've let him get to us." I interrupted and looked down at my lap where my hands were knitted together tightly. I began to play with my thumbs nervously, unsure of how long Miley was going to be._

_**Miley's P.O.V**_

"_What do you think you're playing at?" I shouted wildly at Chad as the door slammed shut behind us._

"_I don't know what you're talking about." He replied coolly, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't care less._

"_Don't try and feed me that rubbish. I know you heard me say where we were going but why have you showed up? Are you making it a pattern of ruining every night out?"I demanded angrily._

"_I was angry. I came over to your school today to apologise and you threw it back in my face. I didn't even do anything that bad."_

"_I cannot believe you Chad. You think that acting as if Mitchie's a piece of dirt that you don't even know to your mate just for the sake of popularity shouldn't make us angry?"_

"_I didn't say that, I just think that you're all completely over-reacting."_

"_Well you can carry on thinking that all you want but it won't change anything. You showed your true colours and you blew any chances you had with Mitchie." replied and headed back towards the entrance._

"_Miley, you believe that I'm sorry right?" Chad asked softly, looking like a small infant who wasn't allowed any sweets._

"_I don't know anymore Chad – you've changed. You used to be so sweet, kind and sensitive. But last night you were the complete opposite – you were rude, superficial and spiteful. Just... stay away from us." _

"_Whatever, don't even act like you're Miss perfect. We both know that's a complete lie. And I'm sure Nate and all your friends would love to know exactly what I know." Chad smirked, back to the evil boy who I'd caught a glimpse of last night._

_I spun around and shot him a look of immense dislike, possibly even hate._

"_It was a mistake Chad. Everybody messes up sometimes. Don't show your face near us anymore, I don't think Shane will be able to keep his temper under control much longer, especially not when it's his best friends you're messing with." I replied calmly and walked back into the restaurant, leaving him standing outside alone. How I wish I could just slap him and wipe that smirk right off his face._

_Violence doesn't solve anything, I told myself sternly as I returned to the table and smiled at my friends._

"_You okay?" Nate asked, standing up and wrapping his arm around me protectively. I leaned into him happily, taking comfort from his warmth._

"_Yeah, everything's perfect now." I lied and forced a smile again._

_He wouldn't really tell them after all, would he?_

"_We already got the receipt while you were outside. You ready to go to the cinema?" Shane asked, careful not to mention who I was outside with. Despite this, Mitchie still flinched at the reminder of what just happened._

"_Actually, I'm not feeling too good; I think I'm just going to head back to the room." Mitchie said softly with a pleading look in eyes for us not to make her go._

"_Yeah, okay Mitch. I hope you're feeling better soon. Shall we ring you a taxi?" Taylor asked kindly and squeezed Shane, warning him not to force her to do anything._

"_There's no need, I'm going to walk back with her." Lucas interrupted Taylor pressing the number into her phone._

"_No, that's not fair." Mitchie began to protest._

"_Really, it's no trouble. I'm worn out anyway and I'm not too keen on the idea of sitting in a dark cinema room with these two sickly couples. You guys have a good night and we'll see you later." Lucas laughed._

_Mitchie sent a shy smile to Shane and Nate as a goodbye and hugged both Taylor then me tightly and whispered "Thank you for what you did," in my ear._

_Lucas smiled at all of us and quickly bumped fists with the two guys before catching up with Mitchie and linking arms with her. I watched Chad stare jealously at the two of them leaving together and I laughed happily at the thought that Mitchie had just got the best revenge she ever could._

"_What are you laughing at?" Nate asked confusedly._

"_Oh, I just Chad's face when he saw Mitchie and Lucas leaving together." I explained and glanced pointedly at Chad who was still looking incredibly grumpy._

"_Good! The horrible boy deserves everything he get's." Taylor announced indignantly._

"_I think we should really get going to the cinema." Shane suggested as he glanced at his watch._

"_Do we really have to watch Letters to Juliet?" Nate groaned, looking at Taylor and me hopefully._

"_Yes!" we chorused happily and giggled at our unison._

_Shane mumbled a few indecipherable words under his breath as us girls skipped out of the restaurant happily with the boys trailing behind._

_**Lucas' P.O.V:**_

"_You okay?" I asked Mitchie as we began to walk back to school, "You can tell me the truth you know – I won't say a word to anybody."_

"_You know you've really surprised me tonight Lucas. You always seemed like an egoistical idiot but you're really not." She replied, smiling slightly._

_Wow, she has a really cute smile._

"_Thanks I guess," I laughed nervously, "You've surprised me too you know. I thought you were a typical superficial teenage girl but you're different to other girls, you're down-to-earth and real."_

"_Wow now that's a revelation many people would like to hear. The one and only Lucas really isn't interested in all those plastic barbies constantly throwing themselves at him. He actually likes normal girls." Mitchie giggled._

"_I think we should keep that a secret for now, it's hard to find a girl like that around here." I replied, zipping Mitchie's lips shut with my hand jokingly._

"_Well I'm sure I can find you that girl. Surprisingly I know quite a few of those girls." Mitchie teased and pushed me gently._

_A cold gust of air caused shivers to run down Mitchie's skin and she hugged herself tightly trying to keep herself warm._

"_You're freezing," I observed and took off my jacket handing it to her, "Here you go."_

"_Wow, a gentleman too. I struck lucky tonight." Mitchie laughed and slipped into the jacket._

"_You're not the only one." I whispered too quietly for her to hear._

"_Perfect fit." Mitchie said as she zipped up the jacket and kicked a stone out of her way, causing the floodlights at the school gates to turn on, almost blinding us both._

"_Wow, that hurt my eyes." I murmured and put my hand up, shielding my eyes._

"_Drama queen." Mitchie remarked and laughed, skipping up to her building._

_I found myself grinning widely at how completely free she looked, completely unafraid of being her true self, not caring what other people may think. Does she realise how perfect she is?_

_Dude, pull it together – you can't fall for this girl, I thought to myself as I ran to catch up with her._

_Mitchie flopped down on the steps outside of her building and I sat down beside her. She smiled happily at me._

"_Nice skipping." I smirked and she stuck her tongue out at me playfully._

"_I know." She retorted._

"_We have classes tomorrow." I said unhappily._

"_I know." She said for the second time, "It's such a shame as well – I've had such a great weekend even if it did have its blips."_

"_You never did answer my question earlier you know. Are you okay?" I replied as I remembered it. Had she purposefully avoided the question, not knowing what to say or had she simply forgot? _

"_I was hoping you hadn't noticed that. But I think I am okay. Sure, it was horrible to see him walk in and it reminded me how he'd hurt me. But it just showed me once again that he's not a very nice reason and it's given me another motive to get over him. I'm just grateful that I realised how it was going to be before I got in even deeper." Mitchie replied softly._

"_That's an amazing attitude to have." I muttered and smiled down at her, getting stuck in her deep brown eyes. _

"_Well what's the point in being negative? Anyway, poor broken-hearted girl isn't my style." Mitchie pointed out._

_True, she's so fiery and independent. I couldn't see her all torn up over some guy – she's too strong._

"_Well then I'll have to make sure no guy ever breaks your heart so you never have to play that part." _

"_I'd appreciate that." She giggled quietly and leaned against my arm, yawning tiredly._

"_Maybe we should both head back to our rooms. You're tired." I said, wiping the dust from my hands and starting to get up._

"_No, wait." Mitchie said and yanked me back down._

"_What?" I laughed as I turned to her, catching my breath as I saw how closer our faces were._

_She leaned in further, pressing her lips against mine softly before pulling back shyly._

"_Now I'm ready to go inside." She smiled as I pressed my finger to my lips, unable to believe what just happened._

"_S-sure." I stuttered._

_Mitchie hugged me goodbye before smiling brightly and walking back inside, turning and waving as she closed the door behind her._

_I grinned widely and started walking back to my room. Well that was a bit of a surprise. I was asked to go out tonight with Mitchie, Taylor, Miley, Shane and Nate to make Mitchie feel less awkward as a friend and we ended up leaving the others and sharing a kiss. It's safe to say I never expected that.__**Author's Note:**_

* * *

_I thought seeing as I let you all down so badly I'd try and get another chapter out as quickly as possible :D Has it made you happy? I hope I've shown you that I'm not giving up on the story :P_

_So.. Mitchie's blind date was Lucas? Like them as a potential couple or hate them?_

_I'm very sorry if you don't like the chapter, it is longer than the other but I'm sorry if it's rubbish writing :[_

_I didn't get as many reviews last chapter as I have for previous chapters but I was a shocking writer so I can't complain if I don't get many reviews I guess. But please forgive me now and give me more reviews? 16 reviews for the next chapter? :]_

_I'm watching the World Cup right now because England's playing but it's really annoying me. We're 2-1 down at the moment but we scored a goal and they disallowed it when it was obviously in. This sucks! Anybody else watching it?_

_I'm really missing Glee right now; it feels weird not watching it every Monday night. Any other Glee lovers? Waiting for Season 2 is officially torture :L_

_Does anybody have Dailybooth? It's a website where you post a picture each day with like a little blurb and people comment on other people's photos. If you've got it or you're thinking of getting it, follow me :D I'll put a link to mine on my profile._

_Ooh while I'm on about my profile I said I'd put my prom photo on there the other day but it didn't upload properly – I've now uploaded it properly :D_

* * *

_**Review Replies:**_

**Mz Fizzle – **I'm glad you liked it and thanks for not moaning about the length of it :P here's a longer one though and I hope the date didn't disappoint!

**Tails52 – **You finally found out who the mystery man was :D Thanks for the review

**mileyluver4life – **Haha I'm happy you loved it :]

**nileyfan1 – **Lol I'm glad you liked the brother part, hope you liked this chapter.

**Niley23 Alex – **If I could favourite reviews I would so favourite all of yours :L And now you know the guy is Lucas! I wouldn't count it as lucky at the moment – it's actually pretty boring if you have nothing to do with yourself :[ Aww thank you for saying that my writings amazing :D

**NikkyJonas – **You love my stories and I love your reviews. So the deal is as long as you keep reviewing I keep writing :P I updated sooner for you!

**Melissa – **You don't have to lose faith ever again, I'm not going anywhere! I hope you have a good summer too :]

**elicia – **haha that was awesome!

**because7eight9 – **I'm glad I'm back too, I really enjoying writing this especially when I get these fab reviews!

**niley16 – **umm thanks for the understanding but I'm not giving up on my stories so there's no need :) glad you liked the chapter – and now you know who Mitchie's date is.

**Lifeswhatyoumakeit101 – **thank you :D was your prom good? Sorry, my photo didn't upload properly but it has now! Wow, it was like you were psychic because it was Lucas. I updated soon :P


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